Surat, Sep 2 (IANS) A 20-year-old student has been arrested from Silvassa in connection with an alleged Rs 26.12 lakh cyber fraud in which a resident in Surat was first offered small payments for viewing and liking social media reels before being persuaded to make larger “investment” payments, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Aditya Pandey, a resident of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and originally from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by the Cyber Crime Cell of Surat City Police following a technical investigation.
According to police, the complainant was initially contacted through Telegram and offered tasks involving viewing ‘ShareChat’ reels.
To gain the victim’s confidence, the fraudsters credited Rs 150 to the complainant’s bank account after the initial task. The complainant was subsequently told that higher earnings could be made through payment and investment tasks.
The accused allegedly sent links to fake and forged websites through Telegram, where the complainant was asked to create an account and transfer money to different bank accounts as part of the purported investment tasks.
Police said the complainant eventually transferred Rs 26,12,791. When the complainant later attempted to withdraw the money, the withdrawal was not processed, leading to the realisation that the transactions were fraudulent.
A case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 318(4), 336(2), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
Police said Pandey’s HDFC Bank account had received Rs 1.20 lakh from the complainant on January 8, 2026.
Investigators allege that Pandey had provided the account through Telegram to an absconding accused, identified by police as Arif, for the illegal movement of cyber-fraud proceeds in return for a three per cent commission.
An examination of Pandey’s savings account showed transactions totalling Rs 51,31,272 between December 4, 2024 and May 12, 2026. Police identified Rs 1,63,020 of this as disputed transactions.
A check of the account through the National Cyber Reporting Portal (NCRP) also revealed four complaints registered in different states, involving an alleged fraud amount of Rs 1,97,18,059.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Bishakha Jain said the investigation had established that Pandey had provided his bank account to an absconding accused after being offered a commission for transactions routed through it.
“Through technical investigation, the HDFC Bank account holder, Aditya Pandey, was identified and arrested,” Jain said.
Jain said efforts are continuing to apprehend the absconding accused. “The arrested accused had no previous criminal history known to the police so far, although the four NCRP complaints had been found during the investigation and the concerned local police would be informed,” she added.
Explaining the wider modus operandi, Jain said social media and messaging platforms allowed fraudsters to contact people without having to establish a face-to-face relationship.
“Criminals use such platforms both to approach potential victims and to find people whose bank accounts or other resources can be used in carrying out fraud,” she noted.
Police have appealed to people to remain cautious of advertisements promising high returns through online share-market investments and other lucrative offers circulated on social media.
Citizens have also been advised to verify the identity of unknown persons before carrying out financial transactions.
–IANS
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