DELHI: As many as 20 have been arrested by the Delhi Police’s cybercrime team in connection to an online Ola electric scooter scam on Monday from various locations of the country, including Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Bihar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Devesh Mahla said interacting with the media.
As per reports, crores of Rupees were duped from 1000 individuals in the scam across several locations across the country. Preliminary investigation revealed, two people in Bengaluru had designed a fake website for Ola electric scooters using which they would make bookings through call-back details on the page. On receiving details of desired candidates the scamsters as per police statements would pursue them to transfer around 60,000 to 70,000 in the name of insurance, transportation charges, or a down payment.
After one of the customers received multiple payment requests, he lodged an FIR which led to the investigation. The police busted a call center in Patna and arrested 16 people linked to the scam. About 114 SIM cards, 60 mobile phones, and seven laptops were seized. About 25 bank accounts with transactions worth Rs 5 crore have been traced.
Ola in an official statement on the issue clarified that it is not onboarding any dealers, dealerships, or other third-party affiliations, and no offline sales model of the company exists.