An organised fraud syndicate that used artificial intelligence to fabricate government identity cards, procurement documents and even a fake video conference has been busted by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch, with three men arrested for cheating an entrepreneur of ₹9.6 lakh through a non-existent government supply tender. Investigators say the accused may be linked to cybercrime cases worth over ₹23 lakh in total, pointing to a syndicate that had refined its playbook well before this particular victim came along.
A Tender That Looked Real Because AI Made It Look Real
The fraud began on June 22, 2026, when Saurabh Bhagyoday, Managing Director of Greendot Biopack Pvt. Ltd., received a WhatsApp message from a man identifying himself as Rajesh Raval, claiming to be a purchase assistant at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. The message came with a forged Request for Quotation printed on what appeared to be genuine Civil Hospital letterhead, seeking 2.5 lakh biodegradable garbage bags, precisely the kind of product Bhagyoday’s company manufactures.
To reinforce the illusion, the accused allegedly generated a fake employee identity card using AI tools and arranged a Google Meet video call through an email address designed to mimic an official government domain. During that call, the victim was told his company would need ZED certification, GeM OEM status and NSIC registration before it could qualify for the contract, a believable requirement given how genuine government procurement actually works, and one that opened the door to a series of payment demands framed as registration charges, processing fees and an Earnest Money Deposit.
A Manufactured Accident and a Second Round of Demands
When the promised EMD refund never materialised, the fraudsters shifted tactics rather than disappearing outright. The purported officer “Rajesh” was reported to have suffered a serious road accident and been admitted to intensive care, a convenient excuse that redirected the victim to a second contact, “Vipul Tomar,” before a third figure calling himself “Shailesh Singh” surfaced claiming to represent the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with additional municipal supply contracts on offer.
Believing the scheme was still progressing legitimately, the entrepreneur transferred a total of ₹9.6 lakh across multiple bank accounts before growing suspicious and filing a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Police identified and arrested Rahul Giriraj Sharma, Vipul Singh Narveersingh Tomar and Aman Naresh Singh Kushwaha, with Sharma named as the alleged mastermind who generated the forged documents and identity cards, arranged SIM cards and coordinated the fake office interactions. According to Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch officials, Sharma had previously spent roughly three years working with consultancy firms that helped companies navigate government procurement through platforms such as GeM, giving him detailed insider knowledge of the exact certificates and processes a legitimate tender would require, knowledge he later allegedly turned against the same businesses he once assisted.
A Repeat Pattern With a Widening Trail
Sharma was already facing charges in an earlier cybercrime case, and investigators have since linked the trio to a separate ₹18.31 lakh procurement fraud registered in Ahmedabad’s Changodar area, with suspicions that the group may have defrauded other businesses of a further ₹5 lakh through similar fake tender schemes. That pattern, targeting manufacturers directly through WhatsApp after identifying their product line online, suggests a deliberate and repeatable method rather than a one-off scam.
Fake government tender fraud has become an increasingly visible category of cybercrime across India over the past year, with similar cases surfacing in states such as Himachal Pradesh, where victims have been misled with fabricated purchase orders and fake emails sustained over many months before the fraud unravelled. What sets the Ahmedabad case apart is the explicit use of generative AI tools to manufacture convincing identity documents and procurement paperwork, lowering the effort required to sustain a credible deception across an extended, multi-stage con.
Cybercrime expert and former IPS officer Prof. Triveni Singh said AI technology has considerably strengthened cybercriminals’ ability to produce convincing fake identity cards, government documents and digital communications, making detection harder for even cautious businesses. He advised companies to independently verify any government tender, purchase order or payment request through the concerned department’s official website, the GeM portal, or authorised government offices before transferring funds, cautioning that relying solely on WhatsApp messages, video calls or digital documents without independent verification can result in substantial financial losses.
