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Another online fraud in the making

Ghaziabad resident approached cops informing them about scam similar to Ablaze scam, but was turned away

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The arrested of the previous Ablaze info scam — (from left) Mahesh Dayal, 25, Anubhav Mittal, 26, and Shreedhar Prasad, 40
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Even as the investigation into the Rs 3,700 crore online trading fraud in Noida throws up international links, and agencies including the Income Tax (I-T) department get involved, the police seem to be in no hurry to begin a probe in to a similar complaint made by a Ghaziabad resident.

After reading about the online fraud case, in which nearly 7 lakh people were duped to the tune of Rs 3,700 crore, a Ghaziabad resident went to a police station on Saturday. The apathetic cops, however, told him to return on a working day, between 10 am and 12 pm.

Amit Kishore Jain, who runs an insurance company in Ghaziabad, had first approached the Special Task Force (STF) probing the multi-crore ponzi scheme but was referred to the local police station.

He has alleged that a 'Click Advertisement' company named Web Work Trade Link Pvt Ltd, located in Sector 2 of Noida, has a similar modus operandi. People are lured to invest Rs 5,750-57,500 in the company's account to avail a good return at the rate of "Rs 6 per click". Afterwards, a username and password is provided to the investors to access the website.

"I have invested similarly in a company named Web Work Trade Link Pvt Ltd. When I read the news, I realised that this company was also fooling people using the same modus operandi. I had invested Rs 172,500 in return for three IDs. Initially, they returned some. But since January, nothing has come in. The company even asked me to open Bitcoin accounts, which are not legal in India, and informed that it will not do any transaction in Indian currency, starting February 1," Kishore said.

"I came to the STF office to file a complaint, but they directed me to Sector 20 police station. The police refused to lodge my complaint and asked me to return on Monday. They also told me that they will only take my application after a primary investigation," he added.

Meanwhile, investigation into the Rs 3,700 crore online scam revealed that the company had victimised people in foreign countries as well, including Nigeria and Muscat. The UP STF had issued an email ID, reportfraud@upstf.com, for the victims and has received over 1,500 e-mails till now. Various departments, including IT, have been roped in to get a clearer picture.

"In just 24 hours, we have received more than 1,500 complaints. A dedicated team is working to segregate the mails according to states and districts. The web page and the mobile application of the company have been seized. We have received calls and emails that suggest the company was in contact with investors from as far as Muscat and Nigeria," STF ASP Amit Pathak said.

The case had to come the notice of I-T sleuths when Rs six crore was deposited in a bank account in cash after the government announced the demonetization drive. Alarmed by the scale of the scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) immediately started the probe into the matter.

"Many officials from different sectors have joined us in our investigation. The STF is trying to gather information including details of bank-associated transactions, and the role of banks," Pathak said.

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