Highlights
- The accused were arrested from Bengaluru, Gurugram and Patna
- The gang duped over 1,000 persons of crores of rupees in the name of selling them electric scooty
- They had designed a fake website of Ola scooter and used to lure people into making online payment
At least 20 members of a gang involved in an online Ola electric scooty scam have been arrested by the Delhi cyber crime police. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Devesh Mahla, the said people were arrested from different parts of the country, including Bengaluru, Gurugram and Patna.
The DCP said the gang duped over 1,000 persons of crores of rupees in the name of selling them electric scooty.
The gang was busted during a thorough investigation after registration of a first information report (FIR) on October 8 of cheating under section 420 of IPC, on the basis of a complaint received by the cyber police station on October 7, he added.
About their modus operandi, the police said two persons in Bengaluru designed a fake website for Ola scooter.
The gang used to target those gullible persons who search about Ola scooters and want to know about them on the website, the police added.
As soon as they upload their details on the website, both the Bengaluru men share their mobile numbers and other details with their gang members in the other states, they added.
Subsequently, the gang members from Bihar and Telangana call the victims and ask them to online transfer Rs. 499 in the name of booking Ola scooter, they added.
The gang members further ask each of the victims to transfer Rs. 60,000 to 70,000 in the name of insurance and transportation charges of the scooty.
In his complaint, the complainant alleged that he tried to book Ola electric scooter via Ola app on September 26 as that is the only way to purchase it.
However, he was not able to complete that process as was looking for a finance option.
On the same day, he received a call from Ola's electric scooter. The person described the offline process to him.
The next day, he received another call from the same person, informing him about the booking process, the cost of which was Rs. 499. He paid that amount via the PayU app, in return he send the complainant a booking confirmation slip and "started" the process, the complainant stated.
On the next day, he received one email about all finance options and as per his suggestion, the complainant decided to go with Ola money for finance. He then generated a down payment link for him of Rs. 30,000 which was received via PayU app on WhatsApp. As per the finance plan, the complainant agreed to pay Rs. 30,000 as down payment and the rest amount in estimated monthly instalments (EMIs), he added.
The complainant further stated that he got an email where the sanctioned amount was shown as Rs. 72,000 and the rest was required to be paid by him. After he received the mail, he talked to that person again, who suggested he pay the remaining amount.
At this, the complainant agreed to pay the same and asked him to begin the process.
Subsequently, he called the complainant and told him that he would be dispatched the scooter on that day itself but asked him to pay the remaining amount plus Rs 13,000 delivery charges.
The cybercrime cell initiated the probe into the case after getting the complaint and busted the gang.
(With inputs from ANI)
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