Noida: Ten people involved in a cyber fraud racket were arrested in a joint operation by the Phase-3 police station and the cyber cell from Sector 121 in Noida on Thursday.The racket allegedly cheated people by offering fake lottery prizes through social media platforms. Police recovered 20 mobile phones, four debit cards and Rs 10,200 in cash used in the fraud.The accused Alan Antony (27) ,Ankit Kumar (18), Rahul (18), Shakeel (29), Chetan (21), Rajashekhar (29), Guru Prasad (22), Vinay DP (28), Vinod Kumar (33) and Santosh (24).Central Noida ADCP Swatantra Kumar Singh said while the gang has been operating for nearly two months, the case came under scrutiny when multiple complaints were received through National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Samanvaya portal. Around 18 complaints linked to the racket were registered in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.The racket first circulated advertisements claiming that the user won lucrative lottery prizes. Interested individuals were then contacted by phone and persuaded to buy fake lottery tickets for as little a sum as Rs 50.Thereafter, victims were informed that they won a lottery worth Rs 12 lakh and asked to send money under various pretexts, including TDS, GST, NOC charges, income tax clearance, RBI clearance and final transfer fees into bank accounts allegedly opened using forged documents.The racket primarily targeted people from southern states and communicated in local languages to gain trust. To make the scheme appear genuine, they allegedly also shared fake certificates and documents bearing the names of Income Tax Department and the Reserve Bank of India with the victims through WhatsApp. The gang frequently changed and destroyed SIM cards and bank accounts to evade detection.The case has now been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating), 338, 336(3) and 340(2) (all related to forgery) of BNS and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act at the Phase-3 police station.Police are examining the criminal history of the men and tracing the money trail to identify others ho were cheated by them.They suspect the involvement of other individuals who supplied fake bank accounts and SIM cards to the men.
