Delhi Police have arrested an African national for allegedly running a sophisticated online scam, cheating over 100 women across India.
The accused, a Nigerian man posing as a UK-based Korean jewellery businessman, used the language-exchange app Hello Talk to target single women, gain their trust, and thenextort money.
The alleged mastermind has been identified as Stephane aged 29 years old, residing in Tilak Nagar, Delhi. He was arrested by the staff of Shahdara cyber police station following intensive technical surveillance.
Dominic would allegedly introduce himself as Duck Young, a Korean jewellery businessman settled in the UK, and would lure women with false promises of personal relationships and business partnerships, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said. The fraud came to light after a complaint was filed by a woman named Anjali on September 24.
She reported that she had met a person named “Duck Young” on the Hello Talk app. He claimed to be a Korean national settled in the UK and running a jewellery business.
After a period of communication, the fraudster told the victim that he had arrived at Mumbai Airport but was detained.
He falsely claimed that Immigration officials had stopped him for travelling without his medical facility card. Anjali then received calls from two Indian mobile numbers where the callers impersonated Immigration officials. They demanded money to clear his alleged detention. Believing the elaborate lie, the victim transferred ` 48,500 via UPI.
The fraudsters soon demanded another `2,00,000. When she refused to pay more, all communications abruptly stopped, and the numbers were deactivated.
A case was immediately registered.
The dedicated investigation team, led by Inspector Amit Dhani, used CDRs (Call Detail Records) and IPDRs to trace the accused to Tilak Nagar. Stephane was arrested from his residence.
Police recovered a mobile phone used in the crime. It contained the Hello Talk app with the same fake profile picture used to lure the complainant. Shockingly, a check of his phone revealed chats with more than 100 women across India using the exact same modus operandi.
He would lure victims with false promises of a personal relationship and business collaboration before demanding money.
During interrogation, it was revealed that Stephane is a Nigerian national. To bypass difficulties in obtaining an Indian visa on a Nigerian passport, he travelled to Ivory Coast in 2019 to procure a different passport. Using this, he managed to secure a six-month tourist visa and arrived in India the same year.
After his visa expired, he continued to live in India illegally, shifting between various places in West Delhi.
After running out of his savings, he got involved in this online scam. He created the fake online identity “Duck Young” (@net_duckyoung), positioning himself as a wealthy Korean national in the U.K. His primary targets were single women.
The accused is now booked under relevant sections of the law. Further investigation is underway to identify his associates and other victims.