Noida: In a major crackdown on international cyber fraud, police from Sector 63 arrested 13 alleged cyber criminals accused of cheating foreign nationals by posing as airline and travel booking agents. The accused were operating a sophisticated scam targeting citizens of the United States and Europe through fake airline ticket booking services.
According to the police, the gang used paid advertisements on Google and Facebook to attract potential victims searching for airline tickets and travel assistance. When victims called the advertised numbers, their calls were routed to dialer software installed on laptops operated by the accused. The fraudsters allegedly impersonated airline representatives and offered discounted flight tickets to gain the trust of customers.
Investigators said payments were collected in US dollars through international payment gateways. In several cases, victims were either issued fake tickets or did not receive any tickets after making payments. Since most bookings were made for travel dates several months in the future, victims often discovered the fraud much later, by which time the accused had changed their contact details and operational setup.
During the operation, police recovered 13 laptops, 16 mobile phones, a router, 10 microphone headsets and forged documents allegedly used in the cybercrime network. Preliminary examination of the seized digital devices revealed transactions worth approximately USD 1.05 million (around ₹10 crore) along with data related to foreign victims, indicating the existence of an organised international cyber fraud racket.
Police officials stated that the accused were highly educated and capable of speaking in convincing American and European accents, enabling them to easily gain the confidence of overseas victims.
The arrests were made following technical surveillance and local intelligence inputs. Further investigation is underway to identify additional links, financial trails and possible international connections associated with the cybercrime syndicate.