Noida: 10 held for duping people on the pretext of lottery tickets

Ten arrested in Noida for duping south Indians with a fake lottery scam, collecting up to ₹2.5 lakh each by posing as winners, say police.

Noida: Ten people were arrested on Thursday for allegedly duping people from south India by luring them to buy a ₹50 lottery ticket worth ₹12 lakh and fleecing money on the pretext of various charges after declaring them winners, said officials, adding that the suspects have been booked at the Phase 3 police station.

During interrogation, it emerged that the suspects used to target people from south India by posting advertisements on social media platforms. (Representational image)

According to the police, complaints were being received through the National Cyber Reporting Portal (NCRP)over the last two months about the fraud being carried out from Noida.

“We received 18 complaints from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. A probe revealed that the calls were being made from Noida. Further investigation revealed that the money was being transferred from one account to another,” said Swatantra Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Central Noida.

Police said the cybercrime branch officials were roped in the investigations after the preliminary findings.

The ADCP said 10 suspects – seven originally from Karnataka and three from Bihar, were finally arrested on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday from Sector 121. “During interrogation, it emerged that they used to target people from south India by posting advertisements on social media platforms,” the officer added.

“After receiving the money in their bank accounts, the suspects would block their SIM cards and repeat the same modus operandi,” the ADCP added.

Police said the suspects were booked under charges of cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Police recovered 20 mobile phones, cash worth ₹10,200, and several debit cards from their possession.