Nepali national aide held for duping widow in online gift scam in north Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) Two members of an international cyber fraud racket, including a Nepali national, have been arrested in north Delhi for allegedly duping a 48-year-old widow of Rs 1.10 lakh under the pretext of sending her birthday gifts from abroad, an official on Saturday said.
     The accused have been identified as Santosh Rana (37), a Nepali citizen, and Aslam (22), a resident of Delhi's Dabri, he said.
     The official said that Rana allegedly provided fake bank accounts to the African nationals for cheating purposes.
     "The matter came to light when the victim, a resident of Burari, reported on the NCRP portal that she was lured into a Facebook friendship by a man claiming to be from the UK. After moving their conversation to WhatsApp, the accused promised to send her expensive birthday gifts," said a senior police officer.
     The man later posing as a Customs official demanded Rs 1.10 lakh for clearance charges, which the victim transferred into a bank account but never received any package, he added.
     A case under relevant sections of the BNS was registered at the North Cyber Police Station.
     Rana lived in Uttam Nagar and scouted locals to open bank accounts on the promise of a commission. These were then sold to the African nationals residing in Delhi to collect fraud proceeds, the officer said.
     Both suspects were arrested during raids in Sitapuri and Vasant Kunj, police said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)