Sambalpur Cyber Crime and Economic Offences police have arrested three siblings for allegedly cheating a private insurance company branch manager of ₹25 lakh after approaching him through a fake Facebook profile and convincing him to invest in a purported currency-doubling scheme.
Police identified the accused as Jharana Badi, 38, Rajesh Badi, 32, and Rajkumari Badi, 24, originally from Babupada in Jharsuguda district. The two sisters and their brother were living in a rented house at Singpali under Ainthapali police limits in Sambalpur. They were arrested and forwarded to court.
Fake Facebook Profile Used to Gain Victim’s Trust
The case came to light after Lipak Kumar Pradhan, a Rourkela-based branch manager of a private insurance company, approached the cyber police on June 29. He alleged that the accused had contacted him through a fake Facebook profile under the name “Disha Agrawal”.
Police said Jharana’s photograph was used on the account. After establishing contact and gradually gaining Pradhan’s confidence, the accused allegedly persuaded him to invest in a supposed money-doubling process.
Sambalpur SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo said the accused had learnt deception techniques through YouTube and used them to win the victim’s confidence before carrying out the fraud.
According to police, Pradhan was called to a hotel in Sambalpur and shown a demonstration of the purported money-doubling process in the presence of the other accused. Convinced by the demonstration, he allegedly withdrew ₹25 lakh from a home loan account and travelled to Angul, where he met the accused at a hotel.
Proposal for Conducting Cyber Crisis Drill, Tabletop Exercise (TTEx) & CCMP Readiness Exercise
Bag Allegedly Swapped With Bundles of Notepads
Police said the accused then carried out a bag-swapping trick. Pradhan was allegedly distracted with a claim that a USB drive and motorcycle keys had been left behind. During the distraction, the bag containing the cash was allegedly replaced with an identical bag filled with bundles of notepads.
The accused then fled while Pradhan remained waiting at the hotel. He lodged a complaint with the cyber police a few days later.
Investigators traced the three accused to their rented accommodation in Singpali and arrested them on Thursday night.
₹15.50 Lakh Cash, Jewellery and Devices Seized
Police said they seized ₹15.50 lakh in cash, gold and silver ornaments valued at around ₹12 lakh, 20 mobile phones, a laptop, a tablet, a scooter, fake Aadhaar cards and other articles. A Blu-ray machine allegedly presented as a currency-printing or money-doubling machine was also recovered.
Some jewellery was allegedly bought with proceeds of the fraud, while police said other items had been mortgaged and later released from a finance firm.
Preliminary investigation also indicated that the accused allegedly cheated another person in Rourkela of ₹10 lakh using a similar method. Police said the three would be brought on remand for questioning as investigators examine their possible links to other fraud cases and how the purported currency-doubling machine was used to deceive victims.
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