2, including a Nigerian, held for cyber fraud
By Newsmeter Network Published on 23 Nov 2020 10:35 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Two persons, including a Nigerian, were held for cheating people in the name of charity. The accused used social media and e-mails to find and lure in people in the guise of transferring large amounts of foreign funds for charity purposes in India.
According to police reports, Chibuike Christian Aririegbunamu came to India on a business visa where he met Sonia Sharma and they both hatched a plan to cheat people. They would contact people on Facebook and WhatsApp and convince them to transfer money to their accounts in return for releasing funds for charity. They would cite various charges like foreign exchange certificate, RBI clearance certificate, and so on. They would withdraw the money immediately and disappear and sometimes they were aided by an Arun Kumar, who was running a Western Union shop under the name of Sonia Communications in Delhi.
Their crimes came to light when a victim of their operation from the city, in Safilguda, filed a complaint with the police on how he had been cheated by the gang. The gang managed to gain his trust by discussing spiritual matters, the complainant said, and later they asked him to transfer money for the release of foreign funds. An amount of Rs 29,74,939 was transferred to five accounts after which the complainant never heard from them again.
The police said that after the gang's location was found during the investigation, the police waited at Sonia Communications and nabbed the Chibuike Christian Aririegbunamu in no time. During the arrest SI CH Praveen Kumar and constable Ramesh suffered injuries when the accused attacked them. Sonia Sharma is said to be absconding.
Police advise citizens to not reveal their personal data to suspicious strangers online to avoid loss to life and money.
