New Delhi, Two males had been arrested for allegedly duping individuals by providing faux airline tickets at throwaway costs, Delhi Police mentioned on Thursday.
Faux flight ticket reserving racket busted, two held
With their arrest, police claimed to have busted a gang promoting faux airline tickets utilizing totally different social media platforms.
The accused, recognized as Salman Sayeed Siddiqui and Rohit Rajaram Ghanekar , are mentioned to be half of a bigger racket, police mentioned.
In line with police, the operation got here to gentle following a grievance lodged by Rajeev Chopra, a resident of Bhagat Singh Park. Chopra was tricked into transferring ₹47,681 after responding to a social media commercial for an inexpensive Delhi-to-Toronto flight.
“After contacting the number provided in the advertisement, which turned out to be a virtual number, he was persuaded to share personal and payment details. The fraudsters booked dummy tickets and vanished once the money was received,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Nidhin Valsan in an announcement mentioned.
Police later registered an FIR and a staff was fashioned to hint the accused.
Investigations revealed that the accused used digital quantity to make calls, faux social media pages mimicking real journey businesses and phishing strategies to ensnare unsuspecting clients, mentioned the DCP.
He mentioned that the accused would create faux tickets of airline web sites to achieve belief earlier than asking for fee. “Once the funds were transferred, they would deactivate communication channels,” he mentioned.
The mastermind of the gang, Salman Sayeed Siddiqui, was earlier arrested by Sahar Police in Mumbai in 2023 for the same worldwide ticket rip-off.
He had beforehand labored with reputed journey businesses in Mumbai. He later opened his personal journey agency in Delhi after finishing an Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation course and gaining deeper data of air ticketing programs, police mentioned.
In line with police, Salman shifted base to Delhi to keep away from police surveillance after his earlier arrest. His affiliate, Rohit Rajaram Ghanekar, hailing from Raigarh in Maharashtra, was allegedly accountable for sourcing faux SIM playing cards and mule financial institution accounts to route the stolen cash.
Rohit, who moved to Mumbai in 2012 because of monetary hardship, acquired concerned in cybercrime by serving to criminals get hold of faux accounts and cell connections.
“These fraudsters operated with a high level of anonymity. They used virtual numbers to avoid detection, opened accounts under false identities and used multiple digital platforms to coordinate their scams,” he mentioned.
The police staff carried out raids at Charni Street and Virar East in Mumbai and Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. The accused had been arrested from Mumbai and Delhi.
Police mentioned that they’ve recovered 12 cell phones, three laptops loaded with digital proof, 22 debit and bank cards, six chequebooks, passbooks, three SIM playing cards, 4 WiFi routers, a WiFi pod, a pill, and a stamp used for creating faux paperwork.
“Further investigation is underway to identify more victims and uncover the full extent of the fraud network,” mentioned the DCP.