The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police busted a scam racket in Kanpur where operators impersonated popular overseas companies and offered jobs to individuals in countries like Australia, America, and Dubai. The gang, operating since at least 2015, had personal data of over 120,000 individuals across India, including doctors, engineers, MBAs, and anyone else seeking international job opportunities.
According to UP Police’s cybercrime team, individuals from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh were caught up in the scam. It’s suspected that over 100,000 people across the country have been targeted so far, with scam amounts going as high as ₹47,000 — scammed from a victim after being offered a position in a reputed foreign company.
The cops have busted seven individuals so far, including Hariram Pandey, Anurag Dikshit, Azhar Ansari, and four women who are believed to be key operators in the scam. The arrested individuals had data on over 26,800 job seekers collected from both fake and genuine portals.
Job seekers were targeted with fake job portals impersonating real ones, like Naukri.com, which then collected their personal data. In some cases, the data also came from legitimate job portals. After acquiring a victim’s data, the scammers used caller ID manipulation tools to make calls impersonating real organisations or corporate numbers. Promising high-paying overseas jobs, they asked victims to pay registration or verification fees. Other reasons for extorting victims included charges disguised as visa processing, documentation, and job confirmation.
The racket was also run in a rather sophisticated and organised manner. The scammers used tools like Class 4 Softswitch and Auto Dialer to keep track of conversations and automate calls. Gang members also had clearly defined goals, ranging from data collection and extraction to maintaining and running fake websites, voice calling to collect money, and more.
Going forward, the accused have been arrested on charges including cyber fraud, identity theft, and impersonation, with the Gangsters Act potentially invoked as well. Electronic devices, fake documents, call records, and financial transaction data have also been seized as evidence.
Always check the email addresses or other contact details when contacting about a job offer. You won’t be contacted for a role if you haven’t applied to a company. Even if an interested head hunter does reach out, they will not charge any money to confirm a job or any other specifics. Stay aware of offers that are too good to be true, as they are often attempts to scam.
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