In a significant breakthrough, the Noida Police arrested five people, including a woman, for allegedly running a scam that deceived over 100 unemployed individuals by offering fake jobs on ships and cruises. The accused, operating from a rented office in Sector 62, Noida, had been running the fraudulent operations for six months before being apprehended.
The complaint came to light after a 25-year-old Jaipur resident filed a complaint with the Sector 58 Police Station on Friday. The man had been lured by a social media advertisement about a job vacancy on a cruise. Upon contacting the number provided, he was connected to a person named Akash, who claimed to represent a company led by Ankit Singh, the owner of the office in Noida.
The suspects arrested were identified as:
Ankit Singh,
Ariba,
Yavendra Singh,
Badal,
Durgesh Yadav
The complainant was informed that after a phone interview on May 31, he was selected for a position on a ship traveling from Mumbai to Goa. However, he was instructed to visit the Noida office for a medical test, for which he was charged Rs11,000. At the office, he was shown documents by one of the scammers, Badal, who had previously worked on a ship and convinced the victims that the job opportunity was legitimate.
After visiting the Noida office, the complainant received an email requesting an additional ₹38,600 to complete the paperwork for the job. Realizing something was wrong, he reported the scam to the police, which led to the identification and arrest of the suspects.
The arrested individuals operated the fraud under the guise of providing genuine job opportunities on ships, targeting unemployed individuals, particularly through social media platforms, and coercing them into paying money for non-existent positions.