Hapur. Cyber Crime Police Station has arrested three accused including a Nigerian girl who used to cheat people by creating fake profiles or IDs on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other internet media platforms. The accused used to befriend Indian boys and girls by claiming to be a foreign citizen. Later they used to lure them by promising to send expensive gifts.
On receiving the gift, they used to cheat people in the name of custom duty by pretending to be a custom officer and telling them that there was more cash or valuable gift. The arrested accused are Peter alias David, Michael Dino Adex and Mercy Keith of Lagos City of Delta State of Nigeria. Police have registered a report against all three named accused.
SP Abhishek Verma said that Anirudh Singh Tomar of village Kanvi of police station Pilkhuwa had lodged a report at police station Pilkhuwa on 15 May 2024. In which the victim told that a few days ago a girl had sent him a friend request on Facebook account. Which the victim had accepted. After this the girl started talking to the victim through WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
The girl told the victim that her name was Mercy. The girl told that she lives in Nigeria. On March 1, the girl called the victim on WhatsApp and told him that she had reached Delhi airport.
The girl told that she had brought an iPhone worth 70 thousand US dollars for the victim. She was caught by the Customs department officials at the airport. After this, the girl asked for help from the victim. About ten minutes later, a person called the victim and told him that he was an officer of the Customs department.
After this, the accused told that the youth would have to pay ten percent fee in exchange for releasing the girl and the mobile phone. Falling into the trap of the accused, the victim put Rs 1.10 lakh in the bank account told by him. After this, the accused cheated the victim of a total of Rs 1.45 lakh by talking to him in various ways. The police had registered a report in the matter. To expose the matter, a cyber crime team was deployed along with the Pilkhuwa police station.
The accused were arrested from Delhi
The SP said that with the help of surveillance, the team of Cyber Crime Police Station found out the location of the accused. After this, the accused Peter alias David, Michael Dino Adex and Mercy Keith of City Lagos, Delta State, Nigeria were arrested from Flat No. WZ 4/14, Street No. 5, Santgarh, Delhi. All three were living in Santgarh on rent for a long time. Four laptops, Rs 1520 and fake receipts have been recovered from the accused.
The accused confessed the crime during interrogation
The SP said that during interrogation, the arrested accused told that through various platforms of internet media, they make friends with Indian boys and girls by creating IDs or accounts in fake names. The accused take people into confidence by luring them to visit India or come to meet them. After this, they ask for money from people by telling them that they will be caught by the Customs officer at the airports located in various states including Delhi. After this, they themselves get the money transferred to their account by posing as an employee or officer of the Customs Department. People are told that they have brought expensive gifts or mobile phones for them. They swindle money from them in the name of getting them released from the customs department officials.