Two held for duping Chandigarh resident of Rs 9 lakh in work-from-home fraud

The UT Cyber Crime Police Station has arrested two men from Ludhiana in connection with a “work-from-home” cyber fraud. The duo duped a city resident of Rs 9.03 lakh through a fake investment-cum-job offer run via Telegram.

The accused — Shivam (21) and Pramod Kumar (24), both residents of Giaspura, Ludhiana — were arrested during coordinated raids conducted by a team from the Cyber Crime Police Station.

According to the police, Gurvinder Pal Kaur, a resident of Chandigarh, reported that she was offered online review work through a Telegram channel promising high commissions. The fraudsters initially paid her small amount to build trust before tricking her into depositing a total of Rs 9,03,011 on the pretext of unlocking her “frozen” task account.

Investigation revealed that the defrauded money was first credited into an Indian Bank account held by Shivam and then transferred to a UCO Bank belonging to Pramod Kumar. Technical analysis of communication records further indicated that some of the Telegram accounts used in the fraud were operated using IP addresses originating from Cambodia, suggesting a transnational component to the operation.

Both accused were arrested on October 28 from different locations in Ludhiana and produced before a local court, which granted one-day police remand for further investigation.