Three illegal foreign nationals arrested from Noida for extortion

The three came into contact through social media and lived together in rented accommodation in Noida for almost a year, from where they operated the racket, police said.

Gurugram:Three Nigerian nationals were arrested from Noida, Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping people of their money after befriending them through dating applications and social media platforms while posing as women from western countries, police said on Saturday.

Police said two of them reached India on student visas in 2017 and 2018 and continued to stay illegally after their visas expired.

Police said they were arrested on Thursday and taken into one-day police remand for questioning. They were sent to judicial custody on Saturday after being produced before a city court.

Police said two of them reached India on student visas in 2017 and 2018 and continued to stay illegally after their visas expired. The third accused had illegally entered India through Bangladesh border in 2022.

Police recovered at least 19 phones, laptop and 18 Indian and international active SIM cards.

The three came into contact through social media and lived together in rented accommodation in Noida for almost a year, from where they operated the racket. The international SIM cards were used for WhatsApp chats to make victims believe they were speaking from abroad, police added.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said the trio contacted a city resident in April this year by impersonating a woman on a social media platform.

“They exchanged WhatsApp number and started chatting. One of them told the victim that she had arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai but was stuck as she did not have Indian currency to pay the registration fee for bank cheque exchange,” he said.

Police said the victim transferred ₹69,900 into a bank account provided by the accused after which they deleted the social media profile and blocked him.

Investigators said the victim submitted a written complaint at Cybercrime (west) police station on April 25 and an FIR was registered for cheating and forgery against the unidentified suspects.

Police said no travel documents, including passports, could be recovered from the accused during the raids, adding that the investigation is underway to determine how many victims have been duped so far and to trace the extorted money.