HYDERABAD: The Cyber Crimes wing of the Cyberabad police have arrested a fraudster claiming to be an advisor to Bollywood actor Sonu Sood. The accused cheated a resident of the city to the tune of Rs 60,000 under the pretext of helping him.
Police said Ashish Kumar Singh posted his phone number on Twitter identifying himself as an advisor to the actor. When the victim contacted him for help, he said Sonu Sood had agreed to help and duped him under the pretext of registration fees, processing and other charges.
According to police, after seeing the contact number, the victim called him and asked for financial help of Rs 10,000. As per the instructions of the person who spoke to him, the victim shared all details.
A few days later, the person called the victim and informed that Sonu Sood had agreed to help with Rs 50,000. For receiving the amount, he asked the victim to pay registration fee, processing fee and money for other formalities and made the victim pay Rs 60,000, saying it would be refunded. When the demand kept growing, the victim realised he was cheated and approached police.
During the probe, police found Ashish Kumar Singh belongs to Muzaffarpur, Bihar. He posted his phone number on Twitter claiming that he is the advisor to 'Sonu Sood Corporation'. When people contacted him for help, he collected their details and also sent them a fake identity card in the name of Pankaj Singh Bhadauria.
Believing him, people sent him money as per his demand, assuming that they would get help and their money would be refunded. Based on technical evidence, police nabbed him.
Meanwhile, police warned the public to be cautious about such fraudsters who are on the prowl cheating gullible people by claiming to know celebrities. Police also urged people not to transfer money to any unknown and unverified person’s account for any purpose.