4 cyber thugs held in Delhi for duping people with ‘fake’ job offers

Four cyber fraudsters have been arrested for duping people on the pretext of providing employment opportunities, police said on Friday.

According to the police, the accused, posing as executives of prominent job portals, used to contact job seekers claiming that their resumes were shortlisted for prestigious companies.

They then used to demand payments under the pretext of refundable service charges, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said, “The investigation has linked the accused to at least 74 complaints of cheating across the country, primarily targeting southern states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.” On November 3, one of the victims received a call from an alleged representative of an online job website. The caller informed the victim that her resume was shortlisted for a role at a private company, the police said.

The victim was asked to pay a refundable service charge of Rs 2,500 via online payment method, they said.

“Trusting the caller, the woman complied. However, the scammers continued demanding more money under various pretexts, ultimately duping her of Rs 1.25 lakh. After this, she moved to the police and an FIR was registered,” the DCP said.

The police followed the money trail and apprehended Nikhil Tyagi (34), Ankur Sharma (26), Varun Bhandari (26) and Suraj Kumar (26) from New Ashok Nagar in Delhi on December 9.

The accused, all Delhi-based, have confessed to their crimes during interrogation. Apart from their arrests, the police recovered four mobile phones and two laptops used in the fraudulent activities. PTI BM NB