Five young men were arrested across Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for their involvement in defrauding a Mumbai-based engineer of Rs 3.4 lakh in a task fraud scheme. The accused have been linked to numerous cyber frauds across different states, with an estimated total amount of Rs 30 crore defrauded from citizens.
The victim, a 26-year-old tech engineer, was contacted on December 19, 2024, via WhatsApp by an unknown number offering a work-from-home opportunity. Initially intrigued, he agreed to the offer and was asked to provide his personal details and UPI information. After submitting the information, he was encouraged to click on a link and subscribe to a platform, promising him a commission of Rs 150 for doing so. When he received the payment as promised, he believed the offer was legitimate.
Subsequently, the fraudsters convinced him to complete tasks like giving five-star ratings for hotels online to earn bonuses. After completing several tasks, he received two bonuses—Rs 100 and Rs 900. However, a few days later, he was shocked to find that Rs 3.4 lakh had been debited from his bank account. Realizing he had been scammed, he reported the incident to the Vakola Police.
Under the leadership of DCP Manish Kalvaniya and Senior Inspector Prakash Khandekar, a police team consisting of Inspector Amar Patil, Sub-Inspector Yashpal Badgujar, and Sub-Inspector Jeevan Gutte traced the suspects’ locations to Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The accused were identified as Rajkaran Singh Tanvar (19), Karan Singh Sengar (19), Mohammad Shaqib Ansari (27), Miraz Akram (20), and Fuzel Ahmed Ansari (21). These arrests led to the resolution of five similar fraud cases.
Tanvar and Sengar, both students from Rajasthan, along with the other three suspects from Bhiwandi, were arrested in connection with the cyber fraud. The police are continuing their investigation as they suspect the group’s involvement in a larger cybercrime network targeting citizens across multiple states.
