New Delhi: With the arrest of seven individuals, the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch on Monday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of cheats, who used to dupe people on the pretext of getting them visas and jobs in the Gulf.
An officer said that the gang, which operated through several fake companies, took data of Dubai-based companies from online platforms such as naukari.com.
The accused were identified as Shankar Kumar Shah a.k.a Mahesh Kumar (28), Somraj alias Som Nath Kumar (26), Inamul Haque Ansari alias Rizwan Ali a.k.a Ikram Ali (32), Tabish Hasmi alias Vikrant Singh (26), Md. Tabrez Alam (26), Tarique Shamsh (26) and Ekram Muzaffar (19).
The officer said that the men had scammed over 900 people by offering visas and jobs in Gulf countries. They used to make calls and send emails to innocent people on behalf of registered agents of reputed companies in Dubai. Most of these victims hail from Kerala.
The Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ravindra Singh Yadav, revealed that victims received phone calls and emails from tele-calling facilities of fake companies, including New Vision Enterprises Company. These companies falsely claimed to represent registered agents of genuine Gulf-based companies like Acttell Construction LLC, Dubai.
The agents of New Vision Enterprises conveyed to victims that they had been selected for Gulf jobs based on their profiles on platforms like Naukri.com and Work India app.
To process the visas, they demanded Rs 59,000, which included Rs 1,000 for medical checkups, Rs 3,000 for documentation, and Rs 55,000 as consultancy charges.
“Complainants paid the requested amount, but the fraudsters ceased responding to their calls and messages, eventually vacating the office without notifying the complainants or the property owner,” said Yadav.
During the investigation, the police team collected Call Detail Records (CDR), Customer Application Forms (CAF), Internet Protocol Detail Records (IPDR), recharge history, bank statements, IP logs, online wallets, and GST records.
“They also used Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) to identify email addresses linked to mobile numbers used by the fraudsters. Further data was obtained from Google, YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, online money wallets, and other social media platforms to gather more information,” said the Special CP.
After extensive data analysis, a company named ‘Life Long Travels’ was identified, leading the team to the main conspirator, Inamul Haque Ansari, located in Zakir Nagar, Delhi.
“A trap was set in Zakir Nagar, leading to the successful apprehension of the seven accused,” said the Special CP.
During interrogation, Inamul Haq Ansari confessed to being the mastermind of the racket. “He lured local unemployed individuals, created fake identities for them, opened bank accounts in their names, and established a fictitious overseas travel company,” said the officer.
“He then advertised his services on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, claiming to offer consultation for obtaining work permits in Gulf countries and Malaysia. He fraudulently collected around Rs 60,000 per person under the guise of visa services, medical fees, and visa charges,” said the officer.
“To date, he has defrauded nearly a thousand individuals from various parts of the country, with a majority of victims hailing from Kerala,” the officer added.
–IANS