Six individuals, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested for orchestrating a massive fake lottery and gift parcel scam, duping unsuspecting victims across India. The group posed as foreign women on social media platforms, befriending people and later claiming to send expensive gifts from abroad.
After gaining trust, the fraudsters used fake UK-based phone numbers to call the victims, impersonating customs or airport officials. They claimed the parcels had been held at the airport and demanded various fees—like clearance charges or taxes—for their release.
Another trick involved informing victims they had won international lotteries but needed to pay a “processing fee” to claim the prize. Many victims, convinced by the convincing accents and fake foreign IDs, transferred large sums of money.
Arrested Individuals Identified
The arrested men were:
Shedrack Onainor (29, Nigerian)
Sunday John (40, Nigerian)
Shahid Raza (45)
Shahrukh Khan (23)
Vikas (25)
Rakesh (22)
The Delhi Police Crime Branch apprehended them from various parts of the city. Raza, initially caught in West Delhi, led investigators to Khanpur, where Onainor was arrested. Information from Onainor resulted in the arrests of the other group members, including Sunday John.
Onainor entered India in 2013 on a medical visa, which expired in 2018. He remained illegally and formed a cybercrime network with fellow Nigerian nationals and Indian accomplices. They created fake profiles and accounts to receive scam proceeds.
Indian handlers like Raza and Khan provided local bank accounts and collected the defrauded funds in exchange for a commission. Raza had worked in Saudi Arabia before turning to crime nearly eight years ago. Along with his son-in-law Shahrukh, he managed cash collection and withdrawals using multiple ATM cards.
Vikas and his brother Rakesh opened 18–20 fake bank accounts by using fabricated Aadhaar details and false addresses. They also acquired multiple SIM cards and handed over both ATM cards and mobile connections to Raza and Khan.
Vikas earned 3% of the stolen amount per transaction, while Rakesh received 2%. A third accomplice assisted in altering Aadhaar details without verification.
Meanwhile, Sunday John, who arrived in India on a business visa in 2023 (expired in 2024), stayed illegally and was in charge of collecting money across the Delhi NCR region for the Nigerian ring leaders.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh stated that the group had been running this scam operation for years, manipulating Indian identification systems, bank infrastructure, and mobile networks to execute and conceal their crimes.
