Online gaming website dupes Somajiguda resident of Rs 70 lakhs; one held

Hyderabad: The Cyber Crime police of Hyderabad arrested a person from Haryana for cheating a person of Rs 70 lakhs in collusion with the organisers of an online gaming website Dafabet.

The accused has been identified as Hitesh Goyal from Haryana who set up an office in Delhi and has been providing details of various bank accounts and merchant IDs and also operating fraudulent transactions colluding with the organisers of the online gaming website.

Suspect payment gateways on gaming websites

The case came to light when the police received a complaint from a resident of Somajiguda stating that the cyber fraudsters cheated him through the Dafabet online gaming website. He lost Rs 70 lakhs that he was asked to transfer to the bank accounts provided by them.

The Cyber Crime Police, Hyderabad registered a case under sections 66(C), (D)ITA Act-2008 and 419, 420 IPC and sections 3&4 of the Telangana State Amendment Gaming Act of 2017 and started an investigation.

Gaming website operating from multiple countries

According to the police, Hitesh Goyal and his friend Sanjeev, staying in Dubai and Hong Kong, colluded with Dafabet online gaming organisers, which were operating the website from foreign countries such as the Philippines, Dubai, Hong Kong and China. The accused would collect and forward the details of bank accounts and merchant IDs to the Dafabet organisers.

The police also seized cash worth more than Rs 1 crore (Rs 1,40,00,000), 23 mobile phones, 3 hard disks, laptops, 36 bank chequebooks and 52 debit cards.

Public advisory

The police have asked the public not to believe fraudulent online gaming websites and not to invest in unauthorised gaming websites or through any other means, which lure the players in the guise of high returns by investing small amounts by sitting at home.