Impersonating auditors, conmen try to cheat homebuyers in Gurugram

Police said that the buyers had complained to the firm that they were approached by “auditors” seeking their financial and personal details

Unidentified suspects were booked for allegedly trying to defraud homebuyers by impersonating auditors of a real estate firm and seeking their personal and financial details, Gurugram police said on Thursday.

A senior police officer said that after a detailed investigation, it will become clear if any homebuyer was defrauded or not. (Photo for representation)

Investigators said that the matter came to light after a reputed real estate firm, from whom the buyers had purchased properties, approached police and submitted a written complaint in connection with the incident.

They said that the buyers had complained to the firm that they were approached by “auditors” seeking their financial and personal details. They said the matter further escalated when the firm received queries from one of its channel partners and brokers asking about deploying auditors.

Investigators said after an internal inquiry, the firm, which is involved in construction of a township project in Sector 104 near Dwarka Expressway, found that someone had reached the office of one of their channel partners and sought details of its financial dealings with the firm in the name of audit.

Following a complaint by Deepak Sharma, an authorised official of the firm whose channel partner was approached, an FIR against the suspects was registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Cyber Crime (west) police station on Tuesday night, said police.

A senior police officer said that after a detailed investigation, it will become clear if any homebuyer was defrauded or not.

“The complainant had suspected that their internal data was leaked from which the buyers’ contact details became available to the suspect,” he said, adding that it will take time to clarify if confidential data of other firms was also leaked.

Inspector Amit Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Cyber Crime (West) police station, said that they are ascertaining how the data got leaked and who the suspects were.

“We will arrest the suspects soon. At present, we know that data of one firm was leaked,” he added.