Are you planning a helicopter ride to Maha Kumbh? Then beware of falling prey to scammers online! The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested five members of a gang who were cheating devotees online by luring them with ‘helicopter ride’ offer during their visit to Prayagraj for Kumbh Mela. Four men from Bihar and a woman from Mumbai’s Andheri have been arrested for duping people online.
The accused have been identified as Mukesh Kumar (28), Saurabh Kumar (25), Avinash Kumar (21), Srishti Barnwal (21), and Sanjit Kumar Mistry (24), all four were arrested from Bihar and one female accused was apprehended in Mumbai. The gang ran an online fraud scheme using fake websites and QR codes to lure victims into booking helicopter rides for the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela.
Police has found out that the gang had been running this scam since the beginning of the Maha Kumbh Mela, duping unsuspecting devotees. The police are trying to identify other victims who have been defrauded by the gang.
How the fake helicopter scam worked
The Police action comes after Ms. Kothekar, a Mumbai-based woman recently approached the Cuffe Parade Police Station informing them that that she was planning a trip with her family to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh for a holy dip at the ongoing Kumbh Mela. The family was eager to catch a glimpse of the mega event from the sky. Accordingly, while searching for helicopter rides at Maha Kumbh online, the South Mumbai resident came across a fraud website with the address – https://mahakumbhhelicopterservice.online.
Mistaking the website to be authentic, Ms. Kothekar called on the phone number shared on the site, when a scammer answered the call offering her a discount and asking her to deposit Rs 60,652 for a group of 26 people. The scammer also shared a QR (quick response) code to facilitate the payment. However, the woman grew suspicious when she found out that the money reached the private bank account of a woman named Sonamuni Devi instead of the helicopter service company.
When Ms. Kothekar tried to visit the helicopter service website the following day, she was unable to trace it. The woman then enquired about her money to the scammer she spoke to the previous day only to get vague answers from him. Realising she has fallen prey to a scam, the Mumbai woman sought help from the police. Around the same time, police also received another complaint from Sankalp Jagdale, a resident of Colaba.
How Mumbai Police nabbed helicopter gang
While investigating the matter, the police found out that Rs 60,652 deposited by the Mumbai woman for helicopter service has been withdrawn from two ATMs in Bihar Sharif. By coordinating with Bihar Police, the Cuffe Parade team obtained CCTV footage from the ATMs where the stolen money was withdrawn.
Based on this evidence, they first arrested one Avinash Kumar alias Bittu from Bihar Sharif. Bittu told the police that he had created the fake website offering helicopter rides and withdrew money through an ATM as instructed by his friend Mukesh Kumar, who is the prime accused in this case.
He also informed the police that Mukesh Kumar and Saurabh Kumar made scam calls to people luring them with helicopter rides. The two accused were nabbed from the Danapur-Secunderabad Express at Nagpur Railway Station with the help of the Government Railway Police (GRP).
The police also arrested a woman working as a POS (point of sale) agent with a telecom company in Andheri. Another accused, Sanjit Kumar, who facilitated the transportation of these SIM cards to Bihar, was also arrested.
