Cyber fraud kingpin nabbed from Haryana for duping Dehradun resident of Rs 90 lakh
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested the mastermind of a cyber fraud case involving Rs 90 lakh duped from a Dehradun resident under the guise of online trading. The accused, Vikas Kumar, was apprehended from Kasola, Rewari district, Haryana, following an investigation led by the STF’s cyber crime police station in Dehradun.
The STF’s deputy superintendent of police Ankush Mishra said that the complaint, filed in September 2024, stated that the victim was added to a WhatsApp group in June-July 2024, where members shared screenshots of high returns on investments. The accused posed as the chief investment officer of a fake company named IIFLPRO Private Limited, claiming affiliation with a reputed trading platform. He persuaded the victim to invest in online trading by promising high profits and asked them to transfer funds to various bank accounts. Mishra said that the STF investigation revealed that the accused used a fake mobile application named IIFLPRO APP to display false profits on the victim’s investment. The dashboard of this application showed large returns, convincing the victim to continue investing. Over Rs 90.5 lakh was transferred to multiple bank accounts linked to the accused during this period, as per the DSP.
He said that during the probe, officials traced suspicious financial transactions in an Axis Bank account controlled by the accused. Over Rs 46 lakh in transactions were recorded within a month. Technical evidence and data from banks and service providers confirmed the involvement of the accused, as per the DSP. He informed that Vikas Kumar, originally from Saran, Bihar, was identified through digital footprints and arrested with the help of local police in Haryana.
Authorities recovered one mobile phone, a passport, four ATM cards and an Aadhaar card from his possession. He said that initial investigation shows that the accused’s bank accounts had seen transactions of several lakhs within a span of two to four months. His name has appeared in cyber fraud complaints filed across five different states, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, Mishra said.
He urged the public to stay cautious and verify the authenticity of investment platforms, avoid unsolicited messages or offers on social media and report any suspected fraud to the nearest cyber crime police station or by calling helpline number 1930.
