Three held in Delhi for duping 50 persons online

A married couple and their associate were arrested for allegedly duping people by posting fake advertisements about selling electronic items at discounted prices on social media websites, police said on Wednesday

A married couple and their associate were arrested for allegedly duping people by posting fake advertisements about selling electronic items at discounted prices on social media websites, police said on Wednesday.

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Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Usha Rangnani identified the arrested persons as Love Pahwa (24), his wife Kiran Nagpal (38) and their associate Mukesh Luthra (26), who allegedly duped at least 50 people from different states in the last six months.

Police said that a 32-year-old Delhi resident filed a complaint on June 17, stating he saw an advertisement on a Facebook page selling a laptop. “When he contacted the given mobile number, he was assured that the laptop would be provided to him at a lower rate of ₹45,000 and asked to transfer some money in advance. He transferred ₹15,000 in first instalment and was later convinced to transfer at least 50% of the total amount. He then transferred ₹5,000 through UPI,” Rangnani said.

Police said that the victim was then asked to transfer ₹2,200 for courier charges. He ended up paying ₹22,200 in total and realised he had been defrauded when neither the laptop was delivered nor did the alleged sellers pick up his calls.

During investigation, the team obtained the beneficiary account details and began technical surveillance. “Based on our findings, we raided an address in Laxmi Nagar and apprehended the three persons and collected digital evidence,” she said.

She added that the arrested persons’ interrogation revealed that Love Pahwa is the mastermind. “He told us that he and his associate would check details of possible targets from posts and advertisements on Facebook pages regarding sale of electronics and hardware items. Then they would collect contact numbers of interested customers from the comments posted on the pages and call them, offering items at discounted prices. They would then convince them to transfer at least half the amount as an advance, and some more as a delivery charge,” the officer said.