Cyberabad cops bust gang using fake KFC franchises to cheat Rs 94 lakhs

Hyderabad: Cyber Crime Police busted a fake franchise gang of six members, who cheated innocent people under the guise of setting up franchises of reputed establishments through fake websites. The gang was operating from UP and Bihar.

The fraudsters created fake KFC websites and used them to falsely assure victims to set up a KFC franchise at Bachupally, Cyberabad and took Rs 94,95,538. The accused are as identified as Rakesh Kumar alias Aditya Singh, the main person in the gang, Mohammed Khalid, Yugender, Gagan alias Pankaj, Saritha, and Roshini Singh Goutham alias Arpitha Singh.

Modus Operandi

According to the Commissioner of Police Stephen Raveendra, the gang established an office in Noida in Uttar Pradesh and through their technical associates, created fake KFC websites. Through Google, Meta and YouTube advertisements, they popularised the websites.

If any individual showed interest in setting up a franchise, the gang would communicate with them over calls and emails, convincing them that it is an original deal and tricking them into making payments.

“To bluff the victims, the accused procured a 022 STD landline virtual number to communicate with victims. The number belongs to a region in Mumbai. They impersonated company executives (Account Manager, Senior Manager, etc.) and make conversations over fake emails and acknowledged victim’s payment with fake invoices,” said the commissioner.

The arrested have also developed other fake websites of well-known brands such as IFFCO, ITC, TATA 1MG, Herbal Ayurveda, and Jockey, for other fraudsters and would popularise them by running adverts. They promoted the websites and shared details of victims’ leads generated through the website with fraudsters.

How did the gang work

Rakesh Kumar alias Aditya Singh procured a rental space office, recruited Mohammed Khalid for website development, Yugender for running ads through SEO, and Gagan, Saritha and Roshini Singh Goutham for telecalling.

Rakesh instructed Khalid to develop a website imitating a legitimate KFC franchise provider and through Yugender collected victim data. He, along with his telecallers, convinced the victims to pay for the allocation of franchise in the name of a franchise fee, agreement fee, NOC, and fee for interior, and woodwork infrastructure setup.

Rakesh trained telecallers by providing calling formats. He also shared mule bank accounts with the victims and got transfers done into them. He created trust in the victims that the process is genuine by sending confirmation emails through the email created using KFC fake domain. He also deputed someone to make a visit to the site for site confirmation and initiated the interior work at the site.

The police seized seven mobile phones, three laptops, five CPUs, one LED projector, chequebooks, debit cards, SIM cards, and data from fake websites created.

Advisory to Public

- Citizens are advised to verify the authenticity of the websites shown on the internet by visiting their corporate offices.

- Citizens should check the original name and IFSC code of the bank accounts provided.

- A legitimate company will not have its customers pay money for official purposes involving personal accounts.

- Citizens are advised to learn the process of establishing franchises.

- Do not make transactions before verifying all details of the deal.