Thirteen people were arrested in Noida Sector 63 on Thursday for running a fraudulent business-to-business (B2B) publicity scam, duping businessmen across India. The accused lured victims by promising to publicize and sell their products in multiple states.
The case came to light after Sudhir Anand, a cosmetic businessman from Jammu, filed a complaint claiming he was cheated of Rs4.86 lakh by the gang. “Sudhir Anand traveled all the way from Jammu to report the fraud to Noida police,” said Avdhesh Pratap, SHO of Sector 63 police station.
Police investigations revealed that the gang operated from a call centre in G Block, Noida Sector 63. They targeted businessmen via social media ads, promising extensive publicity and the provision of 8 to 10 distributors across states to boost sales. After receiving payment for their packages, they would cut off all contact.
“Victims were mainly businessmen from other states, who were hesitant to take legal action,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Shakti Mohan Avasthy. The call centre’s director, Mayank Tiwari, has been absconding for two years.
Kritika Verma, the HR manager, was responsible for training new recruits with scripts to lure businessmen. Mayank Tiwari personally handled in-person meetings. Authorities have seized all related bank accounts and are working to identify the full scope of victims.
The accused include highly educated individuals: Kritika Verma, Anjali Pandey, Vikas Verma, and Pradeep Singh (all MBAs); Keshav Vashist, Manish Gautam, and Ritesh Kumar (BTech); and Nidhi, Avinish Giri, Ashish Kumar, Ritesh Kumar, Amit, and Ravi Sharma (MCA, BCom, and MA).
The gang also maintained a website and social media platforms with over 20,000 followers, adding credibility to their deceptive scheme.
