In a major crackdown on cyber fraud, Delhi Police’s Cyber Crime unit has arrested Sukhpreet Singh, a 25-year-old resident of Agwar Pona, Jagraon, Ludhiana, for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency scam operating through Telegram groups.
The scam, disguised as a work-from-home job opportunity, came to light after a Shahdara resident, Sangam Yadav, filed a complaint on October 5. Yadav responded to an Instagram advertisement offering remote jobs and was redirected to a Telegram group. There, a woman posing as a company representative assigned him paid online tasks.
Initially, Yadav received small payments for completing tasks, but was later deceived into depositing ₹55,100 via UPI under the pretext of unlocking more earnings. When he attempted to withdraw his funds, he was asked to pay more, revealing the scam.
Following the complaint, Delhi Police tracked the financial transactions and discovered ₹29,500 of the scammed money had been used at a petrol pump in Jagraon. Based on mobile location tracking, Sukhpreet Singh was identified and arrested.
During interrogation, Singh confessed to trading USDT (a type of cryptocurrency) in Telegram groups. He bought USDT at market prices between Rs94–Rs98 and resold it within the group for Rs105 per USDT. Fully aware the money was from illicit sources, he used multiple bank accounts to mask transactions and often cashed out or swapped funds at petrol pumps to avoid detection.
Authorities recovered three mobile phones, six SIM cards, and twelve ATM cards from Singh. After two days in police custody, he was remanded to judicial custody. Further investigations revealed the stolen money was funneled into several bank accounts, including one with Indian Bank, whose account holder remains untraced.
The probe continues, as police work to uncover the full network behind the crypto-based work-from-home scam.
