Job scam: 3 fraudsters with links to Pak, China handlers held

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and state cyber police arrested three men, including two from Uttar Pradesh, on Monday for defrauding individuals under the guise of offering jobs and funnelling illicit gains to handlers in Pakistan and China.
Police said the arrests were made during an ongoing probe in a case filed in June, where a Dehradun resident was duped of Rs 23 lakh after being promised a job with a multinational corporation in the UK.The accused have been identified as Almas Azam (29) and Anas Azam (25) both residents of Kanpur, and Sachin Agrawal (41), from Delhi.
A police officer privy to the case said the three men were members of an international gang that included fraudsters from Pakistan and China. “They targeted job seekers across India, posing as representatives of a placement agency. They conducted fake interviews and operated a fake website that mimicked legitimate agencies. They extorted money under the pretence of visa processing and other documentation fees,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.
The probe found the trio contacted handlers in Pakistan and China. “They transferred fraudulently obtained money via cryptocurrency wallets to these handlers, receiving a commission in return. The suspects had opened bank accounts in India using forged identities and shared online banking details with their overseas counterparts. They were involved in similar cyberfraud cases in Delhi, Bengaluru, Gujarat, Telangana, and UP,” said Ayush Agrawal, SSP (STF) and state cyber police.