Uttar Pradesh’s Cyber Crime Police arrested Ahmed Nawaz and Aman on June 13 in connection with a large-scale online fruit and vegetable trading scam. The duo is accused of defrauding more than Rs50 lakh from individuals across multiple states using fake Facebook pages.
The arrests were made near the Balajipuram area of Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar district. During the operation, police seized 4 passbooks, 3 cheque books, 9 SIM cards, 3 mobile phones, and 1 laptop from the accused. The SIM cards were registered using fake identities.
The investigation began after a Tripura-based businessman lodged a complaint on the Pratibimb portal, alleging that he was tricked through a fraudulent Facebook page offering wholesale fruits and vegetables at low prices.
Upon tracking the mobile numbers linked to these Facebook pages, police found that they were operating out of Muzaffarnagar. The scammers posted attractive offers with images of fresh produce and asked interested buyers to deposit money in advance.
Once the payments were made, the victims were blocked, cutting off all communication. According to Muzaffarnagar SP Crime Indu Siddharth, the accused created Facebook pages under names such as:
Syed Trading Company Wholesale Maharashtra
Aman Fruit Company
Fruit and Vegetable
Rice Portal
AFC Fruit Banana Wholesale
These pages falsely claimed to operate from Maharashtra, Tripura, Gujarat, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
Since 2020, the scam reportedly netted around Rs50 lakh, with 16 official complaints filed against the duo, including one reporting a fraud of Rs2.3 crore (Rs23,081,429).
Despite having only studied up to 8th standard, Ahmed and Aman ran an elaborate operation, purchasing assets including a Hyundai Venue, Mahindra TUV, Apache bike, and even clearing personal loans.
Currently, Rs30 lakh remains in their bank accounts. Both were produced in court and sent to jail. Police from West Bengal and Maharashtra are also investigating them for similar complaints.
