Online fraud: Rachakonda cops nab man for cheating people by promising interest-free loans

Hyderabad: A 28-year-old man was arrested by the cyber crimes sleuths of the Rachakonda police for duping people in the name of providing loans.

A case has been registered against him under various sections of the IPC and the IT Act.

The arrested person has been identified as Perasomula Veera Narayana, a resident of Prasasan Nagar in Jubilee Hills who is originally from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. He has been sent to judicial custody.

One mobile phone and two SIM cards used for the commission of the offence were seized from him.

In April 2022, Mandula Mallesh, a resident of Mothkur in Yadadri-Bhongir, got a call from a "loan agent" of a reputed bank who promised to provide zero-interest loans. The caller said he would charge them 3% commission.

Mr. Mallesh referred some of his friends to the agent. Later, the agent collected copies of their Aadhar and PAN cards and registered them on www.ZestMoney.in. He then gathered the OTPs they had received in their mobile numbers registered with the bank. The fraudster purchased expensive smartphones from a reputed mobile showroom on zero down payment and monthly EMIs and cheated the victims.

The accused, Perasomula Veera Narayana, came to Hyderabad and produced a movie. The movie failed and he suffered a financial crisis. To repay his debts, he decided to cheat people in the name of providing interest-free loans.

As per his plan, he randomly called unknown numbers and introduced himself as a loan agent working in a reputed company. He told them he would provide interest-free loans.

Once the victims responded to his calls, they would share their documents and also refer some friends to the accused. Later, Narayana collected copies of their Aadhar and PAN cards to process the loan and registered with www.ZestMoney.in on their behalf. He then bought mobile phones on EMIs by taking OTPs from the victims. He sold these phones at discount prices through his associates.