A veterinary student in Rajasthan has been arrested for his role in a sophisticated online work-from-home scam that defrauded numerous job seekers with fake handwriting assignments.
A 20-year-old veterinary sciences student was arrested from Rajasthan's Karauli for his alleged involvement in an online work-from-home scam that cheated job seekers by giving them fraudulent handwriting assignments, police said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Anuj Meena, was apprehended following a probe into a cheating complaint lodged by one of the victims, a resident of central Delhi, who lost Rs 34,000 in the scam.
"The case pertains to a cyber fraud in which victims were lured through social media, offering them handwriting-based work-from-home opportunities," a senior police officer said.
The complainant stated that he came across a social media handle and contacted them, who made him pay under various pretexts, including registration fees, material charges, GST and account verification charges.
The fraudsters allegedly used psychological tactics such as claiming failed transactions and demanding nominal pending amounts to keep the victim engaged and extract more money.
An FIR was registered on April 29, and a dedicated team was formed to trace the accused. During an investigation, the financial trail led police to a beneficiary UPI account linked to the accused. Technical analysis of the social media account also revealed connections with mobile numbers associated with him. Subsequently, a police team conducted a raid in Karauli and apprehended Meena on May 1.
"During interrogation, Meena, a veterinary sciences student at a livestock research facility in Rajasthan, disclosed that he had teamed up with a co-accused, identified as Ganesh Sharma alias Prince alias Golu, who introduced him to cyber fraud methods," the officer said.
Police said the duo created a social media account and boosted advertisements to target vulnerable job seekers. While Sharma handled online interactions, Meena provided bank accounts and SIM cards to receive and route the money.
Further investigation is underway to trace the co-accused and identify more victims linked to the racket.