Noida: 8 arrested for running fraud finance site

STF arrests 8, including 6 women, for running fake finance company website in Noida, duping over 300 people of crores on pretext of loans.

The Special Task Force (STF) on Thursday arrested a gang of eight people, including six women, for allegedly running a fake website of a finance company, and duping people on the pretext of providing loans, said police.

Computer hacker. Internet crime working on a code on laptop screen with dark digital background. Cyber attack in cyberspace concept (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The gang was operating from a rented place in Noida Sector 63 and duped over 300 people to the tune of crores of rupees for six months.

Special Task Force, assistant superintendent of police (AS), Vishal Vikram Singh, said, “The STF had been receiving information for past few days that a gang was involved in duping people on the pretext of providing loans, and making fake website of finance company was active in Noida’s Sector 63.”

“On the tip-off, on Thursday around 7.30am, a team of STF and Noida Police raided the spot and arrested eight people,” said Singh, adding an initial probe revealed that they used to collect data from online trade websites to contact people seeking loans.

Explaining the gang’s modus-operandi, the officer said that on the pretext of registration fees and GST on the loan amount, they duped over 300 people and earned crores of rupees.

“The accused were using 20 bank accounts on rent (used someone else’s bank account for transactions by paying fixed monthly income to the account holder) and 20 UPI accounts for online transactions,” he said.

The accused were identified as Chaya Singh, a resident of Kanpur Dehat; Priya Shukla, a resident of Bisrakh in Greater Noida; Anchal Chaudhary, a resident of Hapur; Sulekha (goes by single name), Ankit Singh, Shivani Thakur, all three residents of Ghaziabad; Sonu Singh, a resident of Kannauj; and Archana Prajapati, a resident of Prayagraj.

“Chaya Singh was the mastermind in the gang. Earlier, she worked at a private firm where she came into contact with others. And later they decided to launch their own fake website to earn money,” said ASP Singh.

A total of 35 mobile phones, 17 ATMs, three laptops, three tablets, 13 sim cards, four Aadhaar cards, one voter ID, one driving license, cash ₹1,190, one car, 75 fake documents and customer data of more than a lakh people were found in their possession, the officer added.

A case of forgery under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act was registered against the accused at Sector 63 police station on Thursday. Meanwhile, further probe is on.