Three Nigerians were arrested in Delhi on charges of allegedly defrauding an Indian woman of more than Rs 2.62 lakh.
The arrests were made by cybercrime police, who identified the suspects as Lezhu John, Gibril Mohammed, and Egboola Ekena.
A report from The Times of India on Saturday confirmed the arrest, although reports revealed that formal charges have not been made yet, the suspects could face a minimum of three years in prison if convicted under India’s Information Technology Act (IT Act, 2000) and the Indian Penal Code.
Section 66D of the Indian IT Act, which addresses cheating by impersonation using computer resources, states, “Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource, cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to a fine, which may extend to one lakh rupees.”
The three suspects are accused of operating a cybercrime racket that allegedly targeted numerous individuals across India.
According to police, the most recent victim filed a complaint after realizing she had been defrauded by a person she met through her Instagram account.
Investigations revealed that the suspects had numerous photos of men and women stored on their phones, which they allegedly used to create fake social media profiles to deceive others.
The ACP of Cybercrime in Vadodara, M.M. Rajput said, “The accused used over 500 bank accounts to commit the fraud. Over 900 complaints have been filed across the country in connection with these bank accounts.”
One of the accused reportedly posed as Sohn Yunmin, claiming to be a chemical engineer from the United States. The suspect told the woman he would soon be working in Assam, and their friendship grew to the point where she sent him a gift.
In April, the suspect allegedly asked the woman to transfer Rs 50,000 to buy machinery for a job in Assam. She complied, but soon after, another individual, Niharika, called and requested Rs 35,500 for the delivery of a parcel containing US dollars.
Niharika continued to ask for more money, and the woman eventually transferred a total of Rs 1.69 lakh. It was only later that she realized she had been scammed.
The police tracked down the suspects using bank transaction details. However, it is still unclear when the three Nigerians will face charges in court.
