NEW DELHI: A 38-year-old Ugandan national was arrested for allegedly befriending people through social media and later duping them through fake high-return business opportunities, police said on Monday.
The accused was found involved in 14 cyber-fraud cases linked to the NCRP portal. He admitted to creating fake female identities to befriend victims online, emotionally manipulate them, and cheat them with fabricated high-return investment schemes, officials said.
A resident of Kishan Garh lodged a complaint stating that he got the number of a woman from a dating app. She gradually gained his trust and introduced herself as an employee of a beauty-products company, the officials said.
“She lured him with a fraudulent business proposal—to buy rare oil from Assam for Rs 2 lakh per litre and sell it for Rs 3.5 lakh—promising instant high returns,” a police officer said.
Trusting her, the victim transferred Rs 1.9 lakh to multiple bank accounts. Soon after receiving the money, the suspect blocked him and disappeared, he said.
“During the investigation, police used advanced technical surveillance, digital footprint analysis, and money-trail mapping, and traced the accused operating from various parts of Delhi-NCR. Multiple raids were conducted, and the accused, identified as Micheal Iga, a Ugandan national, was nabbed from Burari,” DCP(Southwest) Amit Goel said.
Police recovered the mobile phone used in the offence, Rs 22,500 in cash, four mobile phones, one laptop, and six debit cards. During interrogation, Iga confessed to creating fake female profiles using photographs of his girlfriend to honey-trap victims and cheat them. He was also found to be residing illegally in Delhi.