Noida: A man was allegedly cheated of over Rs 20 lakh by fraudsters who claimed to provide him a US visa so he could travel to New York from Delhi. Police said an FIR has been registered and investigation is underway.Pradeep Singh, a resident of Hisar in Haryana, told cops in his complaint that he was approached by a person identifying himself as Rahul Jain through Instagram in July 2025. The accused told him that he would apply for his visa and ensure he could legally travel to New York directly from Delhi. Singh then met Jain in person at an office in Indirapuram and gave some money for the work.“He informed me that he would get an electronic visa issued for me. When I asked him for details, Jain told me that it is a paper visa based on TRC and TRP. He then applied for my visa and delivered the visa to me within two days. He demanded Rs 5,50,000 for booking the ticket, stating that a business-class ticket was mandatory. On his insistence, I paid him the amount, but he did not send the ticket. He then placed a condition that a UI Forex Card was also necessary for travel. Jain informed me that he would apply for my UI Forex Card, for which I was told to pay Rs 6,00,000, which would be mentioned via email,” Singh said.A few days later, Jain allegedly demanded another Rs 7 lakh, stating through email that the amount for applying for the card was insufficient. Despite making the payments, Singh was not issued the card. Jain then demanded another Rs 1,86,000, stating that US travel involves calculations across multiple stages, which Singh paid as well, he said.“After that, he sent only a photo of the UI Forex Card but did not deliver the actual card,” he added.Singh gave the accused a total of Rs 20.5 lakh, including Rs 8 lakh in cash, between July and Nov 2025.When Singh eventually asked for a refund, Jain said the work would be done in a week. However, Jain subsequently stopped responding. “When I called all the numbers provided by him, all the numbers given by him were found to be switched off,” Singh said.He then realised that the accused he had been in contact with were running an illegal gang that targeted people through advertisements placed in newspapers and Instagram.When Singh began looking into the situation more closely, he discovered that Rahul Jain was arrested by Kurukshetra police in 2024 on charges of fraud and was subsequently arrested again by Karnal police on charges of fraud.An FIR has been registered against four accused under BNS Section 316 (2) (punishment for creating) at Indirapuram police station. Teams have been formed to investigate the matter, while cyber police are also checking the social media accounts of the accused, said ACP Abhishek Srivastava.On average, the cost of acquiring a tourist visa to the US through correct channels adds up to less than Rs 50,000.
