3 held in Delhi for running fake visa consultancy, duping job seekers

They allegedly ran the scam for over a year, opening an office in south Delhi’s Zamrudpur, creating a website using the company’s global logo.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested three men for allegedly posing as consultants and senior officials of a multinational visa and passport services company and cheating dozens of job seekers in the name of helping them get visas and employment letters abroad.

3 held in Delhi for running fake visa consultancy, duping job seekers

Police identified the accused as Deepak Pandey, 33; Yash Singh, 23; and Wasim Akram, 25, all residents of Dakshinpuri. They allegedly ran the scam for over a year, opening an office in south Delhi’s Zamrudpur, creating a website using the company’s global logo, and even using a US-based WhatsApp number to appear credible. In the process, they allegedly siphoned off lakhs of rupees from the victims.

Vikram Singh, DCP (Crime), said the racket came to light last month when a consultant from the real company approached police after receiving complaints of brand misuse. “Our probe revealed that the accused purchased a domain name, paramountoverseas.co.in, in 2021. This domain was falsely linked to Nehru Place and Janakpuri, Delhi, and was used to establish credibility. They later created fake social media profiles and advertisements, misusing the MNC’s global logo,” Singh said.

According to investigators, the accused used WhatsApp as their main point of contact. “The accused knew about visa application services and mimicked them. They first sent victims a checklist on WhatsApp to create authenticity, then demanded fees for medical tests. Legitimate appointments were scheduled at diagnostic labs to reinforce the illusion,” an investigator said. Victims were later asked to submit documents and were issued forged job letters. Additional sums were extracted in the name of fake ICA letters (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority), Form 16, and police clearance applications.

Police said 5–6 victims from Delhi-NCR, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been traced so far, each allegedly duped of ₹3–10 lakh. “The technical trail indicated use of IP masking tools, with some sessions pointing to India, but most activity linked to US-based WhatsApp numbers to appear international,” another investigator said.

The office at Zamrudpur was raided on September 9, where Pandey, the alleged mastermind, was arrested along with Singh and Akram under sections 318-4 (cheating by taking property or part of valuable security) and 319-2 (impersonation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“Pandey confessed to mimicking the genuine services to cheat victims. Singh draughted and designed the forged documents and ran the website, while Akram handled technical tasks,” a police officer said. All online and paper documents linked to the scam were seized.