Three arrested for cyber fraud in Chandigarh

The cyber cell of police has arrested three individuals and solved three cases of cyber fraud amounting to over ₹20 lakh. The fraudsters duped the victims by impersonating their friends residing overseas.

In the first case, Rakesh Pal, 26, from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested on April 15 in a case registered on September 30, 2022. The complainant, Prafulla Mohan Sinha of Sector 40, had said that he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number and the caller posed as one of his friends in Australia.

As per police, the caller told the complainant that one of his friends, named Jaspal, in Kolkata was admitted in a private hospital and needed money for an operation. The caller sought the complainant’s account and said he would send ₹18 lakh to his account. He then shared a receipt for the said transaction and assured the complainant that the money would be credited to his account within 24 hours. Sinha then received a call from one Jaspal, who asked him to deposit ₹2.5 lakh in his account. On subsequent requests, Sinha deposit a total of ₹13.5 lakh in different accounts.

In the second case, Hanumat Singh Warkade, 25, of MP was arrested in relation to case registered on May 26, 2022. In his complaint, Gulzar Singh Sandhu of Sector 36, had alleged that the he had received an international call and the caller posed as a friend’s lawyer. The caller sought money by saying that Sandhu’s friend had assaulted a foreign national and needing the money. After transferring ₹4.30, Sandhu called his friend, only to find out that he had been duped.

In the third case, police arrested Amir Khan, 20, of MP in a case registered on November 29, 2022. Tarlochan Singh of Sector 44 had filed a complaint that he received a WhatsApp call on August 30, 2022, and the caller, posing as a friend, asked him for financial help as his ID was about to expire. He also sought a transfer of ₹4,30,000 to an account, which he claimed belonged to his lawyer. The victim deposited ₹2,50,000 to the accused’s account. The complainant found out that he had been duped when he called his friend’s wife for confirmation of payment.