From cyber slave to conman: Bihar man held at Bengaluru airport after siphoning Rs 46 lakh in cybercrime

According to a police officer, the victim, who is based in the Uttara Kannada district, came across a profile named Aishani on nikhaforever.com, a matrimonial portal exclusively for Muslims.

The officer further said, “Alam was then working in Cambodia as a cyber slave and was part of an eight-member team. Assuming Alam was Aishani, the victim befriended him on the portal in May. Between June 21 and July 23, the victim transferred a whopping Rs 36 lakh for trading and as a gift to ‘Aishani’.

“But Alam was unhappy because he was not paid his incentive and even his salary of $600, and decided to leave the place. But it was not easy, as he was in the clutches of cybercrime kingpins. For his ‘performance’, he was given a half-day outing. Using it, Alam reached the Indian Embassy, informed officials about his ordeal and returned to India with the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs.”

But after returning to India, Alam allegedly bought another SIM card and continued chatting with the Uttara Kannada man under the guise of Aishani. The victim continued to transfer money and send gifts whenever Aishani asked. “In one instance, Alam came to the Hyderabad airport claiming to be the servant of Aishani to collect a MacBook which was sent by the victim through his worker,” said the police officer.

By August, the victim grew suspicious and filed a complaint at the Uttara Kannada CEN police station.

B Ashwini, Deputy Superintendent, Uttara Kannada CEN police station, who led the probe, asked the victim to continue chatting with the accused to trap him. By then, the police had found out that it was Alam who was cheating the victim under the disguise of Aishani.

Meanwhile, Alam, posing as Aishani, told the businessman that Rs 40 lakh was needed for the ‘treatment of her mother’. This time, the police told the victim to ask ‘Aishani’ to come to Bengaluru herself or send her servant to the Kempegowda International Airport to collect the money.

A police officer, who was part of the probe, said, “We checked the names of people who were reaching Bengaluru from other cities, and there was only one person with the name Alam. While ‘Aishani’ had told the victim that ‘her servant’ was coming from Hyderabad, the police found out that Alam was actually coming from Delhi.”

After Alam reached the Bengaluru airport, the Uttara Kannada district police nabbed him.

“We have checked the IP address and other details, and Alam was indeed in Cambodia working and cheating many Indians from there. In total, the victim has lost Rs 46 lakh,” Ashwini said.