Iffco job aspirants duped of lakhs

The cyber crime wing of the Gurgaon police has arrested four men for duping aspirants of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of getting employment with the Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (Iffco). Leena Dhankhar reports.

In yet another case of job-related fraud, the cyber crime wing of the Gurgaon police has arrested four men for duping aspirants of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of getting employment with the Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (Iffco). While one of the accused is in four days' police remand, three others have been sent to 14 days' judicial custody, the police said.

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After investigation, the police found that the gang used to operate out of a call centre in Vaishali, Ghaziabad, where they had also employed women to make calls to potential victims. They would also fleece people with fake offers on installation of cellular towers. The accused come from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, Kalyanpuri in Delhi, Noida and Bihar.

The scam first came to light on October 5 when Iffco's deputy director Subhash Chandra registered a complaint under the IT Act. The gang had been operating a fake Iffco web portal to offer jobs at the organization's Gurgaon-based office as customer care representatives. The advertisement on the portal offered a salary of R18, 500, along with other perks. However, candidates were asked to pay an additional interview fee of R12, 000 for which the accused had opened various accounts in Hissar, Mumbai, Banglore, UP and Delhi.

They had named the portal 'Farmer Helpline Services' and used the Iffco logo to lure job aspirants. In addition to this, the gang also put advertisements in newspapers to attract the youth.

"The mastermind is still absconding. The accused who was managing the call centre is in our custody," cyber crime branch inspector, Suresh Kumar, said.