In a major crackdown on emerging cybercrimes, the West District teams of Delhi Police have exposed multiple cyber-fraud operations, arresting six individuals involved in cases of digital arrest, extortion, work-from-home scams, and phishing, officials said on Thursday.
The first case involved an interstate cyber-fraud syndicate engaged in digital arrest scams. Two accused — Shiva (19) and Punit Kumar alias Sahil (22) — were arrested from Faridabad, Haryana, following a complaint from a woman on July 8.
The victim reported receiving a fake WhatsApp video call from someone impersonating a police officer, who coerced her into transferring Rs11,75,228 under the pretext of a money-laundering investigation.
Police traced the suspects to Harijan Basti, Ballabhgarh, and found that they operated mule bank accounts used to route the defrauded money.
In the second case, a work-from-home job fraud was uncovered with the arrest of Ankit Sonkariya (19) from Jaipur, Rajasthan. A woman had complained of being duped of Rs2,74,520 after being promised earnings for reviewing locations on Google Maps.
Police raided Udaipuria village, Jaipur, and found that Sonkariya managed a bank account used for receiving and distributing cheated funds on a commission basis.
The third case involved a phishing scheme using a malicious APK file disguised as a BSES meter verification app. Two men, Lavlesh Kumar (22) and Harbhajan (24) from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, were arrested.
A victim named Gurjit Singh had lost Rs16,52,000 after downloading the fake app. Investigation revealed that Rs6 lakh was funneled through mule accounts linked to the accused. Police conducted raids across Gurugram, Noida, and Aligarh to apprehend the duo.
The fourth case exposed a sextortion racket operated by Gulpham Ansari (25) from Ranhola Extension, Delhi. The accused allegedly recorded and leaked private videos of a woman to extort Rs3 lakh, creating fake Instagram profiles to circulate her videos among friends and relatives.
Police tracked the suspect through technical surveillance and arrested him from his residence.
Officials stated that all accused are being interrogated, and further investigations are underway to trace the wider networks behind these scams.
