HYDERABAD: The cybercrime wing of the Cyberabad police has busted a gang of five from Rajasthan, who used to pose as Army officers and dupe people on online marketplace Olx.
Cyberabad Commissioner VC Sajjanar said the gang has confessed to their crimes in 40 cases, including 15 in Cyberabad, 18 in Hyderabad, six in Rachakonda and one in Nizamabad. Its kingpin, Rukmin, is a college dropout and had earlier worked for another fraudster on a commission basis. He later formed his own gang with other accused Murfeed, Saikul Khan, Sharukh and Rakham Khan.
They were all arrested during a two-week operation in Bharatpur of Rajasthan. Rukmin was involved in 24 offences. According to the police, Murfeed, a college dropout and wanted in six cases, used to post sale ads on Olx and sometimes pose as a buyer too. In both instances, he would collect money from the victims and dupe them. He used to do this by sending them QR scan codes and asking them to do an online transfer, even though he was buying a product. He used to con them by saying that the money would be refunded along with the product.
Saikul Khan, who was involved in 10 cases, and Rakham Khan, nine cases, also operated in a similar fashion. Sharukh arranged accounts and ATM cards for the gang to withdraw money as soon as the victim made an online payment. The Cyberabad police have warned people against transferring money while buying a product online, without verifying it. They have also asked them to never pay an advance to any unknown person.