Delhi Police has arrested four men for duping a man of more than ₹17 lakh in a pan-India work-from-home scam, where victims were offered to earn money by reviewing websites, an official said on Tuesday.
The accused, identified as Ankur Mishra (22), Kratarth (21), Vishwash Sharma (32) and Ketan Mishra (18), lured unsuspecting victims through social media by offering lucrative online job opportunities and later pushed them into a web of cryptocurrency-linked financial traps under the guise of high-reward tasks.
“The victim lodged a complaint on May 27, stating that he was contacted with an offer to earn money by reviewing websites.
“Initially, the complainant received ₹50 per review, but was soon persuaded to participate in prepaid cryptocurrency transactions under the promise of higher returns,” DCP (Southwest) Amit Goel said.
Over time, the fraudsters kept demanding more deposits on various pretexts, cheating him of ₹17.49 lakh, Goel said, adding that police registered a case under the relevant sections of BNS.
During investigation, police found that ₹5 lakh had been routed from the complainant’s account to a private bank account registered in the name of Ankur Mishra.
{{/usCountry}}During investigation, police found that ₹5 lakh had been routed from the complainant’s account to a private bank account registered in the name of Ankur Mishra.
{{/usCountry}}CCTV camera footage confirmed his identity, along with two co-accused found withdrawing funds via cheque.
“Technical analysis later revealed that the fraud ring was operating across multiple cities, including Lucknow and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, and Bhopal and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. Raids were conducted in these locations, leading to the arrest of the four accused,” the DCP said.
The gang used a multi-layered system to launder money, transferring funds through several bank accounts before converting it into cryptocurrency – specifically USDT (Tether) – to evade detection by banks and law enforcement agencies, the officer said.
Further probe is underway to identify the other members of the syndicate and trace the laundered funds.