NEW DELHI: Five people were arrested for allegedly duping a woman of over Rs 17 lakh on the pretext of offering a work-from-home scheme by giving bogus online tasks. The woman, a resident of Burari, reported that she was unemployed and was lured into the fake work-from-home task scam via Telegram.
She was tricked into performing bogus online tasks and making repeated UPI payments under the pretext of earning commissions. She also learned that fraudsters had illegally accessed her mobile number and identity credentials to obtain personal loans worth Rs 8.8 lakh from two reputed banks without her knowledge, police said.
During investigation, it was found that the cheated amount was funnelled into mule accounts, converted into cryptocurrency, and laundered via a Telegram-based network of crypto buyers, officials said.
Later, five people, including a woman, were nabbed, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said.
They have been identified as Krish (19), a resident of Ashok Vihar; Deepak (23) and Gaurav (27), both residents of Rana Pratap Bagh; Manthan (19), a resident of Burari; and Nidhi Agarwal, alias “Crypto Queen” (47), a resident of Kingsway Camp.
Krish was the key person who managed the flow of defrauded funds. He admitted to collecting UPI IDs and bank account details from his associates and forwarded the same to cryptocurrency buyers through a Telegram-based channel named “ATpay.”
The funds received in these accounts were either withdrawn in cash or converted into USDT (Tether) cryptocurrency through Nidhi, who was operating locally by using international communication channels, the DCP said. Deepak was responsible for identifying and onboarding account holders willing to lend their bank accounts for fraudulent transactions.
He used to facilitate these account transfers to Krish. He also introduced the accused, Gaurav (residing in the neighbourhood), who further brought in the accused, Manthan, a 19-year-old youth who knowingly provided his bank account for processing large sums of money on the inducement of petty commissions, police said.
Victim made repeated UPI payments
The victim was unemployed. She tricked into performing bogus online tasks and making repeated UPI payments under the pretext of earning commissions.