Kareena Eugene
Sonu Chaudhary (27), an M. Tech professional, who develops websites, has been arrested for creating fake websites in the name of real companies and luring clients into dealerships or franchise contract by paying hefty deposit amounts.
According to the Cyber Police, the accused is said to have duped at least 100 people to the tune of ₹49 lakh within a year.
Chaudhary was arrested this month from Darbhanga, Bihar, based on a complaint filed by Ceat Tyres, as the fake website created in its names was used to draw gullible users to spend lakhs.
The Cyber Police said that they suspect that the money earned from these fake deals will run into crores across different parts of the Country.
Chaudhary had developed 14 fake websites in the name of real companies and also created 150 fake company website that use similar modulus operandi.
Some of the websites that he used to dupe clients were ‘bajajfinance.co.in, JKtyresfranchise.co.in, adityafinance.in’.
DCP (Cyber) Rashmi Karandikar said that, “the fake and genuine websites look similar. Chaudhary did this due to job insecurity and make a quick buck. He used fake documents to open Bank accounts where the victims deposited the money”.
The fraudulent act came into light after the victims had called up Ceat officials regarding the status of their dealership or franchise agreement for which they had deposited ₹49,000 each.
On the 8th of January 2021, the officials filed a complaint and Chaudhary was arrested thereafter.
The Cyber Police have also arrested an Ashish Ahir, a computer software engineer, in January who had quit his job in London due to the pandemic.
Ahir had opened fake shopping websites that resembled the real ones selling women’s wear, shopiiee.com, to dupe people. He did this to pay off his debts.