In the holy city of Mathura, faith itself became a weapon for cybercriminals. Police revealed that fraudsters set up a fake charity, the “Goseva Trust,” which claimed to support cow protection but instead orchestrated an elaborate online fraud worth ₹21 crore.
Donors, believing they were serving a noble cause, unknowingly fed a web of fraudulent accounts. What appeared as charity soon unraveled as one of northern India’s largest cyber scams in recent memory.
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Complaints Across States
The scheme came to light after 141 complaints surfaced on India’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Victims from states including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu reported that their donations had vanished. All trails led back to accounts linked to the so-called Goseva Trust.
Arrests and Money Trail
Police arrested Gautam Upadhyay and Balwant Singh, accusing them of forging IDs and SIM cards to open multiple accounts. Through these, nearly ₹20.93 crore was siphoned off. Investigators have frozen around ₹7 lakh, but most of the funds were quickly dispersed through layered transfers, making recovery difficult.
Officials noted that the choice of the name “Goseva” was deliberate, tapping into religious trust to lower suspicion. “Fraudsters cloak their crimes in legitimacy by borrowing the language of faith,” a senior officer explained.
Expert Insights
Cybercrime expert Professor Triveni Singh, a former IPS officer, stressed that scams in India are becoming more psychological than technical.
“Fraud is no longer about hacking alone,” he said. “It’s about manipulating beliefs. The use of names like ‘Goseva Trust’ proves that criminals exploit emotions as much as systems.”
The Road Ahead
Authorities are now tracking linked accounts and possible accomplices spread across multiple states. The case has raised pressing questions about oversight in banking systems and safeguards for charity-linked transactions.
As police dig deeper, one lesson stands out: in a country where religious giving is ingrained in daily life, blind faith can be just as vulnerable as passwords and PINs.