Delhi: 10 held for posing as Armymen to dupe people on e-commerce apps

During the lockdown, the accused also cheated several people by putting ads on social media about home delivery of liquor. Police said the accused would take advance payments from buyers and later block their numbers.

Ten men were arrested and two juveniles apprehended for allegedly cheating hundreds of people by posing as Army personnel on e-commerce apps, said police on Sunday. While nine of the 10 men hail from Haryana’s Nuh district, one hails from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district.

During the lockdown, the accused also cheated several people by putting ads on social media about home delivery of liquor. Police said the accused would take advance payments from buyers and later block their numbers.

DCP (Cyber Crime) Anyesh Roy said they received over 300 complaints on their national portal. Raids were conducted in Haryana and Rajasthan, and the accused were caught.

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“From an analysis of the complaints, it was seen that the accused, who could not speak English, targeted people from Hindi-speaking states like Haryana, UP, MP and Rajasthan. Some from Delhi were targeted as well,” said police.

The accused also regularly posted fake ads of cars and bikes on websites like OLX and would pose as Army or paramilitary personnel so the victims would trust them.

After getting a deal with a buyer online, the accused would tell the victim the vehicle is at an Army facility and could not be released unless the “release amount” was paid.

The victims were told to transfer release amount, GST fee, handling and transport fees. After all the transactions were made, the accused would stop responding to the victim’s calls and texts, police said.

Some of the accused would also pose as buyers on the same websites and approached sellers. After closing a deal, the accused would send a fake screenshot of the payment suggesting that the amount had been transferred. When the victim complained of not receiving the money, the accused sent QR codes to the victims, said police.

The QR codes, when scanned, would enable the accused to withdraw money from the victim’s bank accounts, said police.