Delhi Police bust work-from-home job fraud racket, arrest 4 men

According to the Delhi Police, the scammers allegedly siphoned off money through multiple bank accounts and converted it into cryptocurrency to evade detection.

By: Express News Service

New Delhi | July 22, 2025 01:41 PM IST

3 min read

The police formed a special team, which adopted a dual-pronged strategy, focusing on both technical surveillance and money trail analysis to trace the perpetrators. (Source: File)

The Delhi Police on Monday busted a syndicate involved in a large-scale work-from-home job fraud and arrested four men who allegedly duped victims by luring them with fake online job offers. The scammers allegedly siphoned off money through a web of bank accounts and converted it into cryptocurrency to evade detection, the police said.

The police arrested Ankur Mishra, 22, a resident of Uttar Pradesh; Kratarth, 21, from Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh; Vishwash Sharma, 32, of Bhopal; and Ketan Mishra, 18, of Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, through coordinated raids in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh cities.

The police revealed that the accused operated a sophisticated fraud operation using Telegram and other social media platforms. Initially offering small tasks for modest payments, the gang would lure victims into larger prepaid investment schemes involving cryptocurrency transactions.

According to the police, the fraudsters would lure the victims to deposit more money under various pretexts to “unlock” their earnings, and they would rotate the funds through multiple bank accounts to avoid detection before converting them into cryptocurrency, primarily USDT, further complicating the money trail.

The scam came to light following a complaint by Kushagra Rai, a resident of Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, registered through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on May 27. In his complaint, Rai alleged that he was first contacted via Telegram on May 23 with an offer to earn Rs 50 per website review.

After a few successful tasks and payments, the scammers convinced him to participate in “prepaid” tasks involving the buying and selling of Bitcoin. Trapped in the promise of higher returns and redemption of “earnings,” Rai continued transferring money until he had lost a total of Rs 17.49 lakh.

Following a preliminary inquiry, a case was registered under sections 318(4) for cheating, 61(2) for criminal conspiracy, and 3(5) for common intention in criminal acts, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

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The police formed a special team, which adopted a dual-pronged strategy, focusing on both technical surveillance and money trail analysis to trace the perpetrators.

“It was revealed that out of the total amount cheated, Rs 5 lakh was debited from the complainant’s bank account and credited in Kotak Mahindra Bank. The alleged Kotak Mahindra Bank Account was found registered in the name of Ankur Mishra, S/o Arun Kumar Mishra. Ankur Mishra was also visible in CCTV footage of the bank along with two other co-accused persons during the withdrawal through cheque,” said Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South West.

Goel said the police noted another account was operated from Agra and that the gang was operating simultaneously from Lucknow, Shivpuri, Agra, and other places.

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