Over 1,000 duped of crores in pan-India online Ola scooty scam, 20 held

Delhi: Delhi cyber crime police busted a gang involved in online pan-India Ola electric scooty scam with the arrest of its 20 members from various parts of the country including Karnataka's Bengaluru, Haryana's Gurugram and Bihar's Patna, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Devesh Mahla said on Monday.

The DCP said that the gang duped online over 1,000 persons of crores of rupees in the name of selling them electric scooty. The gang bust during a thorough investigation after registration of a first information report (FIR) on October 8 of cheating in this regard under section 420 of IPC on the basis of a complaint received by the cyber police station on October 7, he added.

About their modus operandi, the police said that two persons in Bengaluru designed a fake website of Ola scooter.
The gang used to target those gullible persons who search about Ola scooter and want to know about it on the website, the police added.

As soon as they upload their details on the website, both the Bengaluru men share their mobile numbers and other details with their gang members in the other states, they added.
Subsequently, the gang members from Bihar and Telangana call the victims and ask them to online transfer Rs. 499 in the name of booking Ola scooter, they added.

The gang members further ask each of the victims to transfer Rs. 60,000 to 70,000 in the name of insurance and transportation charges of the scooty.
In his complaint, the complainant alleged that he tried to book Ola electric scooter via Ola app on September 26 as that is the only way to purchase it. However, he was not able to complete that process as was looking for a finance option.

On the same day, he received a call from Ola electric scooter. The person described the offline process to him. Next day, he received another call from same person and informed him about the booking process, the cost of which was Rs. 499. He paid that amount via PayU app, in return he send the complainant a booking confirmation slip and "started" the process, the complainant stated.
On the next day, he received one email about all finance options and as per his suggestion, the complainant decided to go with Ola money for finance. Then he generated a down payment link for him of Rs. 30,000 which was received via PayU app on WhatsApp. As per finance plan, the complainant agreed to pay Rs. 30,000 as down payment and the rest amount in estimated monthly instalments (EMIs), he added.

The complainant further stated that he got an email where the sanctioned amount was shown as Rs. 72,000 and the rest was required to be paid by him. After getting the email, he talked to that person again, who suggested him to pay the rest amount.
At this, the complainant agreed to pay the same and asked him to start the process. Subsequently, he called the complainant and told him that he would be dispatched the scooter on that day itself but asked him to pay the remaining amount plus Rs 13,000 delivery charges.

The cyber crime cell initiated the probe into the case after getting the complaint and busted the gang. (ANI)