HYDERABAD: A gang of 10 Nigerian nationals living in New Delhi have been arrested by Rachakonda police in connection with the cyber fraud. A city based nurse was cheated by the gang to the tune of `9.5 lakh.The gang had also cheated a Nalgonda based businessman, who suffered cardiac arrest after he came to know about the fraud, to the tune of `80 lakh, said Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat.
At a press conference held on Monday, commissioner Bhagwat said the gang of Nigerians have cheated public from Jammu Kashmir to Kanyakumari by randomly selecting the victims through social media.
In November last year, a 36-year-old nurse from Secunderabad had lodged a complaint about a stranger who claimed to be Agustin William of London, via Facebook. After conversing over FB for some months, the said Agustin who posed as a pastor offered a gift box containing USD 50,000, an iPhone, a costly watch, some amount of gold and pearls to the nurse. He informed her that he had sent a courier by flight and that she would receive it soon.
On March 15, the nurse received a call from another stranger who claimed to be a customs officer working in New Delhi Airport. He informing her that she needs to deposit money towards registration fee for receiving a parcel and has to pay clearance charges and international monetary fund transfer charges and get money laundering certificate, RBI clearance and anti-terrorism clearance The woman paid `9.37 lakh by selling her plot and taking hand loans. Since the demand for money increased, she realised that she was being cheated and lodged a complaint. During investigation, the accused were traced to Mohan Garden Area in South-West Delhi and a team of sleuths raided the premises. Police found many mobile phones, sim cards, laptops and other incriminating material and apprehended the 10 Nigerian nationals.