Ahmedabad Crime
Cyber scamsters dupe bizman of Rs 2.46 crore
Police arrest two in e-commerce review scam
In an e-commerce review scam probe, the city crime branch arrested two suspects, Divyesh Bhupat Khimani and Rutul Ashokkumar Kanabar. They are accused of defrauding a local businessman of Rs 2,46,16,637 by promising to promote his reviews to the Diamond Level on a travel website.
The cybercrime unit of the city police has traced 29 bank accounts to which the accused had transferred the funds. “We suspect that the duo may have defrauded more than one person, as transfers from other accounts have also been made into these accounts. The total amount siphoned off could be higher,” a senior cybercrime official said.
The scam operation
DCP Ajit Rajian of the cybercrime unit said the accused reportedly swindled the money within a span of two months. “They sent a fake link of a renowned trip and hotel booking website to the victim, Jayesh Vakil, a share broker residing in Isanpur,” Rajian said.
Modus operandi
Police inspector R M Chauhan of cybercrime unit explained that the accused were initially legally tasked with enhancing hotel reviews. However, they later targeted individuals like the victim, promising business promotion schemes. They then transferred the victims’ money to various bank accounts under the guise of these schemes. They also extracted a large sum from the victim in the name of Multi-Level Marketing (MLM).
“We suspect their involvement in the racket could increase the worth of the cheated amount to an alarming level,” ACP Jeetendra Yadav said.
While Rutul travelled around the country, hiring bank accounts by paying the account holders between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, Divyesh was the one enticing customers with the promise of business promotion.