Maharashtra: Trio with 10th-grade education set up IT solutions firm; held for cyber fraud

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Three youths with only a 10th-grade education allegedly cheated a Nagpur resident of Rs 5 lakh in an online fraud through an IT solutions company they established. They were arrest from Mumbai, reported PTI citing a police official on Sunday.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Atul Indrapati Singh (32) of Virar in Palghar, Neeraj Shamkumar Choubey (26) of Nalasopara, and Vikas Meghlal Saw (23) from Dahisar, the Nagpur Cyber Police official said.

According to the police, the trio recently founded a company named Samarth IT Solutions and listed their contact details on Google, said PTI.

In May, Atul Uike, a resident of Nagpur's Mahal area, started facing issues with the PhonePe app, an online payments app, on his mobile device. He searched for customer care contact information on Google and found the number listed by Samarth IT Solutions.

Following the provided instructions, Uike made a video call during which the fraudsters manipulated his settings, promising that the app would start functioning by night, reported PTI citing an official.

Over the next two days, a total of Rs 5 lakh was transferred from his account in three transactions of Rs 1.49 lakh, Rs 1.99 lakh, and another Rs 1.49 lakh. Following the transactions, Uike lodged a complaint with the cyber police, which led to the arrest of the fraudsters, the official said.

Maharashtra: Man loses Rs 46 lakh in investment fraud; five booked in Raigad

The police have registered a case against five unidentified persons for allegedly cheating a man from Kharghar in Maharashtra's Raigad district to the tune of over Rs 46 lakh by promising high returns on investment, an official said on Saturday, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, based on a complaint lodged by the 34-year-old victim, the police on Thursday registered an FIR against the five accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 419 (cheating by personation) read with 34 (common intention), as well as relevant sections of the IT Act, a Kharghar police station official said.

The police said that the victim works in a company at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, was contacted by the accused, who are identified only by their mobile numbers, between February 2024 and April 2024.

The accused lured him to participate in online trading, assuring good returns. They provided him with WhatsApp groups and various links on the promise of helping him with investments and trading. During this period, with the assistance of the fraudsters, the victim spent Rs 46.23 lakh in investments and trading. After a few days, when the victim checked his account, he saw that he had earned good returns, as per the PTI.

However, his attempt to withdraw the investment and earnings failed, after which he contacted the fraudsters, who did not respond. Realising that he had been cheated, the victim lodged the complaint, the official said, adding the probe into the crime was underway.