Chandigarh: With Nigerian as mastermind, gang impersonating high-ranking officials busted

The arrested accused have been identified as Michael, a Nigerian resident, and four Indian nationals from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh — Prem Prakash, Hajid Khan, Vinod, and Fanne Khan. The gang was actively operating in Haryana, Punjab, and Chandigarh, as well as other states across India, according to the police.

A case was registered on March 5, under sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340 (2), 61 (02) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 66(C), 66 (D) IT Act. The complaint was filed by Greesh Narang, Personal Assistant to the Director General of Information, Public Relations, and Languages Department, Haryana, after fraudsters impersonated IAS officer K Makrand Pandurang and demanded money from Vandna Sharma, a retired officer.

According to police sources, the gang’s strategy involved impersonating senior officials from various government departments. They contacted employees through WhatsApp messages, displaying profile pictures of known officials to make their impersonation credible.

One such case involved a retired senior officer from Haryana, who received a message from a new number with a profile picture of a known senior official. The message claimed that the sender was in a meeting and urgently needed money to make a payment. Believing the message to be genuine, the officer transferred Rs 50,000. Later, it was discovered to be a scam.

A similar attempt was made to impersonate a Chandigarh Police officer, but the targeted official verified the message by contacting the real officer, who exposed the fraud. This prompted a thorough investigation by the cybercrime team.

The investigation led the police to accused Prem Prakash from Bareilly, whose bank account received the fraudulent amount of Rs 50,000. Upon interrogation, the police identified and apprehended the remaining accused. A total of 40 ATM cards and several mobile phones used in the fraudulent activities were recovered from the suspects.

Nigerian mastermind

According to the police sources, Michael, the mastermind, came to India on a business visa in 2017, but instead got involved in fraudulent activities. After his visa expired, he continued to stay illegally and orchestrated various scams. Earlier, he was arrested in Rajasthan for a similar fraud case and imprisoned in Sirohi Jail. However, after being released on bail, he absconded and resumed his criminal activities.

During the investigation, police found several foreign numbers on Michael’s phone, indicating coordination with overseas fraud networks. Authorities are tracing these contacts to understand the full extent of the operation and money transfers.

The arrested individuals have confessed to being involved in withdrawing crores of rupees through this WhatsApp impersonation scam over the past 2-3 years.