Mumbai: The Mumbai cyber police has arrested five people and shut down three websites, which were cheating people and also running an online sex racket. The accused in lieu of an employment agency ran an escort services site and would collect Rs 1,000 as the initial deposit fee. This money would be deposited to their Paytm account, and after withdrawing the amount, the accused would delete the number and the account. The cyber crime cell took action after receiving complaints regarding such sites.
According to the police, the three websites would send messages to people, asking them to become members of “an exclusive dating site”. “The accused would gather numbers and details of people who would register on job hunting sites and from people who would register for new offers at malls and resorts. Once the accused had the numbers, they would send bulk SMSes and ask people to register on the site,” said DCP Akhilesh Kumar Singh. He added that once people opened the messaged and clicked on the link, they would be directed to a Paytm payment gateway.
“Here they would be asked to pay an initial membership fee of Rs 1,000 which would let them access the site and get details about various escorts. Once they had the money they would delete the number and deactivate the Paytm account,” he said. After some people approached the cyber crime cell, it initiated investigation. After the cell traced the number and the Paytm accounts, it found that most of the money was routed to an account belonging to a jeweller in Masjid Bunder. “We have questioned the jeweller, and he told us that he did not know about these sites. Once the money was transferred to him, he would sell gold bars to some people who would come to collect it,” Mr Singh explained.
The Cyber police team kept a watch on the jewellery shop and on Monday arrested one person. “This arrested accused led us to the others and we learnt that they were registered under a company called ibiz which was an employment agency,” said Mr Singh.
