Three held for duping 32 students in Canada, US

HYDERABAD : Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested three people for duping 32 Telugu students studying at various universities in Canada and the USA to the tune of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of paying semester fees.

Police said the accused identified as Devarashetti Pedda Venkateshwarlu, Devarashetti Gautam and Kohirkar Nilesh are guilty of cheating students by promising to pay their semester fees in Canada and USA through fraudulent credit card transactions.

All are residents of Hyderabad.

According to police, they spun into action after a complaint was received from 32 Telugu students for being duped.

Police said the accused Gautham went to the United States to pursue his higher education and collected details of students pursuing their courses in the US and Canada by joining various students' WhatsApp groups.

"Gautham offered a 10 per cent fee concession if students agreed to pay through him. He convinced students that he would collect the fee amount from their family in India in rupees and pay the college in the US or Canada through his credit cards of local banks, saving them money transfer charges," police said

After the parents transferred the fee amount to his father's bank account, the duo kept 45 per cent as their share and transferred the rest to Nitesh.

"Nilesh sent the amount to one Zibron of Dubai in cryptocurrency form and the latter transferred it to the universities. However, the fee was not accepted by universities as it was sent through fraudulent credit cards," police added.

After coming to know their fee was not paid, the victims approached Gautham who expressed his inability to pay the amount. The students somehow arranged the money and paid directly to the universities.

On a complaint, a case was registered and all three were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday. After a course of the probe, the police seized five Mobile Phones, four Cheque books, five Credit Cards, and five Debit Cards from their possession.