Four cyber thugs held for duping people promising part-time jobs in Uber Eats

New Delhi: Cybercriminals continuously evolve their tactics, ranging from sextortion and credit card fraud to bank fraud and schemes on various platforms. Recently, Delhi Police uncovered a new method of deceiving unsuspecting people by offering fake part-time jobs through Uber Eats.

The latest modus operandi was revealed after Delhi Police arrested four persons for duping several people by promising part-time jobs.

The accused have been identified as Bhargav Manish Kumar Sojitra (22), Nasit Keyur Bharatbhai (25), Sayal Bithalbhai Kanani (20), all residents of Gujarat, and Md. Nayeem (32), a resident of Telangana.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini), Guriqbal Singh Sidhu, said that on June 16, a complainant filed a cyber complaint alleging that on June 11, he received a message on Telegram offering a part-time job with Uber Eats.

The person behind the message assured the complainant that they were working on behalf of local restaurants and hotels to boost their revenue and brand value. In return, the restaurants and hotels offered a generous commission. This proposition enticed the complainant into taking the part-time job.

His task was to book hotels and restaurants on an online platform, make payments for the bookings into a specified account, and later cancel the bookings. The 'employer' promised to return the booking amount along with a substantial commission.

“After gaining the complainant's trust, they provided an app link for the complainant to log in using a user ID. Initially, they gave him a commission of Rs 7,000 for a booking order of Rs 11,000 to win his confidence,” the DCP said.

Following this, the complainant began accepting booking orders for multiple restaurants through the links provided by the fraudsters.

“The payable amount appeared in his wallet on their online platform, but he was unable to withdraw it. When the complainant reached out through Telegram to address the issue, he was assured that it would be resolved, but he was also pressured to continue taking booking orders, or else his user ID and password would be suspended, preventing him from withdrawing his money,” the DCP said.

It was at this point that the complainant realised that he had been cheated of approximately Rs 3,40,000, which he had transferred to multiple accounts as booking amounts.

During investigation, it was discovered that the alleged bank account was registered under the name of Datar Enterprises, with an office at Sagar Apartment, A.K Road, Surat.

“The bank account had transactions of approximately Rs 4 crore within just three days. Through technical analysis, human intelligence, and tracking the money trail, the location of the accused persons was pinpointed to Mota Varacha, Surat,” Sidhu said.

Subsequently, a raid was conducted, leading to the arrest of a person Nasit Keyur Bharatbhai.

During interrogation, he revealed that he had sold his bank account and SIM cards to a person named Kanani, who purchased them for Rs one lakh each.

“Following this revelation, Kanani was apprehended, and he disclosed that he provided accounts to a person named Sojitra. Sojitra exclusively communicated via WhatsApp and Telegram, always sending different individuals to collect bank account kits,” the officer said.

Sojitra was subsequently arrested from Surat.

On interrogation, he admitted to running a company named Gravity Export for the last two years, supplying vegetables to Gulf countries.

“He had joined a Telegram group called 'Bank Account Buy & Sale' and had contact with a Chinese national named Wing Kaka. Sojitra received a 2.5 per cent commission in cryptocurrency for the transactions in the accounts he provided. Many individuals in Surat also offered their bank accounts through Telegram,” the DCP said.

Bhargav further revealed that they took the passbook, cheque book, debit card, and mobile number linked to the account from the account holders, preventing them from withdrawing money. He also disclosed that he recently provided an account to Wing Kaka, and one of his managers was staying at a hotel in Surat.