MUMBAI: Police arrested a 26-year-old college dropout for allegedly duping a Jogeshwari resident of Rs 6.75 lakh by luring him to invest in a job task and earn through bitcoins. The accused, Riyaz Ahmed who is from Assam, was allegedly helping a gang use his bank account to park money siphoned off from people.
In the probe, the Oshiwara police cyber team found out that the gang that interacts with complainants through ‘Telegram’ learned through the internet protocol (IP) address that they were operating the fraud from Japan. The IP address through which the account was operated was based in that country, said the police.
Ahmed’s arrest from his rented home in Worli on Friday night helped the cops freeze at least Rs 1.36 crore that was lying in his current account. “The money belongs to people lured by the gang and made to invest to earn double the sum in bitcoins for a task given to them by watching ads on YouTube and subscribing to it,” said a police officer. In such frauds, a citizen is lured with a job offer.
A Jogeshwari resident, Ismail Shaikh (30), was duped of Rs 6.75 lakh after he was lured to earn to do such tasks. Shaikh lost the money after he was made to do multiple fund transfers to complete the task between July 30 and August 2. In his complaint to thepolice, Shaikh said: “I got a message on July 30 that I regularly check shopping portals and it is an opportunity to win a gift of Rs 150. I was added to a Telegram group and soon my e-wallet account was credited with Rs 150 to win my trust.”
He was told to invest Rs 5,000 to complete a task and he was paid Rs 6,500. “This raised my confidence… but they duped me after I was asked to invest big sums to earn high returns in bitcoins.”
Based on Shaikh’s complaint on August 2, DCPKrishnakant Upadhaya supervised a team of senior inspector Mohan Patil, inspector Shivaji Bhandwalkar, assistant inspector Digamber Kurkute, constable Ashok Konde and nabbed Ahmed from Worli before he could take a flight to Assam.
“Ahmed confessed he had used fake documents to get a business licence that was used to open a current account in a bank. The gang used Ahmed’s current account to park the siphoned money. The gang promised Ahmed Rs 1 crore commission once Rs 5 crore was collected in the account,” said an officer.
In the probe, the Oshiwara police cyber team found out that the gang that interacts with complainants through ‘Telegram’ learned through the internet protocol (IP) address that they were operating the fraud from Japan. The IP address through which the account was operated was based in that country, said the police.
Ahmed’s arrest from his rented home in Worli on Friday night helped the cops freeze at least Rs 1.36 crore that was lying in his current account. “The money belongs to people lured by the gang and made to invest to earn double the sum in bitcoins for a task given to them by watching ads on YouTube and subscribing to it,” said a police officer. In such frauds, a citizen is lured with a job offer.
A Jogeshwari resident, Ismail Shaikh (30), was duped of Rs 6.75 lakh after he was lured to earn to do such tasks. Shaikh lost the money after he was made to do multiple fund transfers to complete the task between July 30 and August 2. In his complaint to thepolice, Shaikh said: “I got a message on July 30 that I regularly check shopping portals and it is an opportunity to win a gift of Rs 150. I was added to a Telegram group and soon my e-wallet account was credited with Rs 150 to win my trust.”
He was told to invest Rs 5,000 to complete a task and he was paid Rs 6,500. “This raised my confidence… but they duped me after I was asked to invest big sums to earn high returns in bitcoins.”
Based on Shaikh’s complaint on August 2, DCPKrishnakant Upadhaya supervised a team of senior inspector Mohan Patil, inspector Shivaji Bhandwalkar, assistant inspector Digamber Kurkute, constable Ashok Konde and nabbed Ahmed from Worli before he could take a flight to Assam.
“Ahmed confessed he had used fake documents to get a business licence that was used to open a current account in a bank. The gang used Ahmed’s current account to park the siphoned money. The gang promised Ahmed Rs 1 crore commission once Rs 5 crore was collected in the account,” said an officer.
