Ghaziabad Police Arrest Four Over Alleged Rs 6.58-Crore Cyber Fraud Gang

Ghaziabad Crime Branch in-charge Anil Rajput has arrested four members of an international cyber fraud and sextortion gang, exposing fraud worth Rs 6.58 crore, according to the Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate. The arrests were made in a case involving cyber fraud and international sextortion.

The Crime Branch of the Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate said the arrested accused used to purchase bank accounts and then use them to cheat people through fraud in different states of India. The gang had allegedly cheated people of a total of Rs 6 crore 58 lakh so far.

The Crime Branch carried out an extensive investigation on the instructions of the Police Commissioner, Commissionerate Ghaziabad. The arrested accused have been identified as Mohd. Faisal, aged 21; Mohd. Aman Tyagi, aged 25; Mohd. Hammad, aged around 20; and Mohd. Faizan, aged 22.

The police recovered 5 mobile phones, 4 account kit cards, 5 SIM cards and Rs 2600 in cash from the possession of the accused.

According to the details of the case, the accused contacted an NRI in Canada through Facebook Messenger. They created a fake Facebook account in the name of a woman, ‘Navpreet Kaur’, and used it for video calling. The accused recorded the video and used AI technology to prepare a sextortion video.

The accused then repeatedly demanded 50,000 dollars from the Canadian NRI. They threatened to make the AI-generated video viral if the money was not paid. The bank account number shared for transferring the illegal money was operated at a bank branch in Ghaziabad.

After receiving this information, the Canadian NRI lodged a complaint with the Ghaziabad Police. The Crime Branch took up the complaint and continued the investigation into the case.

During interrogation, arrested accused Mohd. Faisal, a resident of Mewat, told the police that he and his associates Maroof, Aman Tyagi and Mohd. Hammad, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, used to purchase bank accounts. They would then create a group on WhatsApp and upload the account details there.

The accused allegedly targeted people living in India and abroad. They prepared AI videos for sextortion, blackmailed people and demanded money through cyber fraud. If the money was not paid, they threatened to make the videos viral on social media.

The police said that as soon as money was deposited into the accounts, it was immediately withdrawn and divided among the members of the gang. The account holder was paid Rs 15,000 when the account was handed over. Accounts that received a large number of complaints were not used further.

The account details were kept safe in WhatsApp chats, according to the interrogation statement. The police also said that after getting large amounts deposited into the accounts through AI video sextortion, the accused carried out trading through the Delta Elbo app in the name of investing in the share market.

Evidence related to AI video sextortion was also found in the mobile phones recovered from the arrested accused.

The police said that this gang had been active since 2023. A total of 40 complaints have been registered on the NCRB portal from Delhi-NCR and different states of the country.

The police said investigative action would be taken against the arrested accused and they would be produced before the Hon’ble Court. The Cyber Crime Police Station team also assisted the Ghaziabad Crime Branch in the action.

The arrested accused have been identified in the police records as follows: Mohd. Faisal, son of Asgar, resident of near Model High School, Punhana, Police Station Punhana, District Mewat, Haryana. He is 21 years old and has studied B.Com at Jamia Millia University Delhi.

Mohd. Aman Tyagi, son of Naveen Tyagi, is a resident of House No. 60/2, Village Sarwat, Police Station Civil Line, District Muzaffarnagar. He is 25 years old and has studied up to Intermediate.

Mohd. Hammad Tyagi, son of Tanjeer Tyagi, is a resident of Gali No. 02, Village Sarwat, Police Station Civil Line, District Muzaffarnagar. He is around 20 years old and has studied up to Intermediate.

Mohd. Faizan Malik, son of Imran, is a resident of Mau Subhash Nagar, Village Sarwat, Police Station Civil Line, District Muzaffarnagar. He is 22 years old and has studied up to Intermediate.

The criminal history of the accused is being checked. The police said the action is part of the Ghaziabad Police’s ongoing campaign against crimes such as cyber fraud and sextortion.

The police have appealed to members of the public to immediately report any kind of online blackmail or fraud at the nearest police station or on the cyber crime helpline.