Man held for duping people on social media

A man in Nuh, India was arrested for duping people by selling second-hand mobile phones and cars through fake online advertisements. He had duped over 300 people in the last two months.

Nuh police arrested a man on Friday for allegedly duping people on the pretext of selling second-hand mobile phones and cars after posting their advertisements on social media, police said on Saturday. He was produced before the court and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Police said the accused revealed that he used to post new advertisements five days a week to dupe people from across the country. (Representative image)

Police have identified the accused as Mustaqeem Khan alias Sameer, a resident of Pinangwan.

After receiving a tip-off, police arrested him while was on his way to meet his associates at Punhana crossing.

Superintendent of police Narender Bijarniya said that Khan had duped over 300 people of several lakhs of rupees in the last two months. “Khan used to post advertisements of second-hand mobile phones and cars for sale on social media. When people contacted him, he sent them forged links for online payment gateway and withdrew money from their accounts,” he said.

The police said that the suspect posed as an army officer. He told unsuspecting buyers that he had been transferred to another state and had no use of a mobile phone, and hence was selling it at a throwaway price, they added.

Bijarniya said they recovered several mobile phones from his possession. While scanning his mobile phone, the cybercrime officers discovered his social media accounts and also found his chats and the money trails. “He lured the buyers with different models and asked for an advance of ₹500. Later, he used to send them links and swept their accounts clean,” he said.

Police said the accused revealed that he used to post new advertisements five days a week to dupe people from across the country.

A case under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating), and 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code at Cyber crime police station on Friday.