Three 10th-grade educated men set up IT firm, arrested for cyber fraud

NAGPUR: Three youths with only a 10th-grade education established an IT solutions company and allegedly cheated a Nagpur resident of Rs 5 lakh in an online fraud, leading to their arrest from Mumbai, a police official said on Sunday.

The arrested individuals are Atul Indrapati Singh (32) of Virar in Palghar, Neeraj Shamkumar Choubey (26) of Nalasopara, and Vikas Meghlal Saw (23) from Dahisar, the Nagpur Cyber Police official said. According to the police, the trio recently founded a company named Samarth IT Solutions and listed their contact details on Google.

Fraudsters manipulated PhonePe settings

In May, Atul Uike, a resident of Mahal area in Nagpur, encountered issues with the PhonePe app on his mobile device. He searched for customer care contact information on Google and found the number listed by Samarth IT Solutions. Following the provided instructions, Uike made a video call during which the fraudsters manipulated his settings, promising that the app would start functioning by night, the official said.

Over the next two days, a total of Rs 5 lakh was transferred from his account in three transactions of Rs 1.49 lakh, Rs 1.99 lakh, and another Rs 1.49 lakh, following which Uike lodged a complaint with the cyber police, which led to the arrest of the fraudsters, the official said.