Delhi Police have arrested four men for duping a victim of over Rs 17 lakh in a pan-India work-from-home scam involving cryptocurrency, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused—Ankur Mishra (22), Kratarth (21), Vishwash Sharma (32), and Ketan Mishra (18)—lured victims through social media by promising easy money by reviewing websites. However, they trapped victims in a complex web of prepaid cryptocurrency transactions, falsely promising high returns.
“The victim filed a complaint on May 27, stating he was initially paid Rs 50 per website review but was soon persuaded to make prepaid cryptocurrency deposits under the promise of bigger profits,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel.
As time passed, the fraudsters continued demanding larger deposits, ultimately cheating the victim out of Rs 17.49 lakh. Police investigations revealed that Rs 5 lakh was transferred from the complainant’s account to a private bank account linked to Ankur Mishra.
CCTV footage confirmed Ankur’s identity, along with two co-accused withdrawing funds via cheque. Technical analysis uncovered that the scam operated across several cities, including Lucknow and Agra in Uttar Pradesh and Bhopal and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh.
Police conducted raids at these locations, resulting in the arrests of all four accused.
