Surat, July 5 (IANS) The Surat Cyber Crime Cell on Sunday arrested a 32-year-old man accused of operating a Facebook-based brick sale scam that investigators say is linked to five fraud cases across Gujarat, including one recently registered at the Dumas Police Station in the city.

Police identified the accused as Narendrabhai alias Gyanprakash alias Shivam Saraswat, a native of Gangashahar in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district, who was living at Salasar Residency in Surat’s Godadara area.

He has studied up to Class 12 and worked as a brick purchase and sale agent.

According to the police, the latest case was registered after a complainant alleged that on April 16 he was contacted through a Facebook advertisement and a phone call by a person identifying himself as “Gyanprakash”.

The caller allegedly claimed he could supply bricks at wholesale prices and persuaded the complainant to place an order by promising lower rates and better profits.

The complainant subsequently transferred Rs 36,900 online as payment for the bricks.

Police said the suspect switched off his mobile phone after receiving the money and failed to deliver the goods.

Based on the complaint, Dumas Police Station registered a case on July 4 under Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2008.

“The arrest followed a technical investigation carried out by the Cyber Crime Cell under the guidance of senior officers. The investigation was led by Police Inspectors R.J. Chaudhary and Y.S. Sisodiya along with their team,” officials noted.

Police said the accused had started a business called “Ozone Hardware” with a friend in Surat in 2021 but allegedly suffered losses of around Rs six lakh.

“He (the accused Shivam Saraswat) then turned to online fraud to earn money quickly,” they added.

According to the police investigation, the accused allegedly used SIM cards obtained in the names of other individuals and created a Facebook account under the name “Nishant Saxena”, through which he advertised JBC Red Bricks, sand and crushed stone.

When customers agreed to buy bricks, he allegedly contacted brick kiln owners through Just Dial and arranged deliveries to the customers’ addresses.

Police alleged that instead of paying the kiln owners from the money received from customers, he diverted the funds into bank accounts belonging to various money transfer operators, withdrew the cash and did not pay the suppliers, thereby allegedly cheating both customers and brick manufacturers.

“He (the accused) used SIM cards, social media accounts and banking arrangements belonging to other individuals to conceal his identity and switched off the mobile phones used in the fraud after receiving payments,” officials claimed.

The Cyber Crime Cell said it had found evidence that, apart from the latest complainant, the accused had allegedly cheated four to five other customers by posing as a brick agent through Facebook.

“Five criminal cases and complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) have been linked to him,” they said.

Besides the latest case, police said cases or complaints have been registered at Singanpor Police Station in Surat, Pandesara Police Station in Surat City, Olpad Police Station in Surat Rural and Waghai Police Station in Dang district.

The alleged fraud amounts in these cases range from Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,900.

Surat City Police urged the public to verify sellers before responding to attractive advertisements on Facebook, WhatsApp or other social media platforms and advised against making advance or full payments to unknown individuals.

It also advised people to verify businesses before entering into commercial transactions and said “victims of online fraud should immediately report incidents”.

–IANS

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