Scammed Of Rs 999, A Man Spent 7 Years Cheating 300 People Out Of Rs 3 Crore

The Delhi Police has made a breakthrough by arresting a man tied to a crime that dates back seven years. In the world of crime, this case stands out because the victim eventually turned into a full-fledged

criminal himself.

This is the story of 36-year-old Mohammad Mehtab Alam. In 2018, Mehtab was cheated of Rs 999 by someone promising him a job. He filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, but his small grievance received no attention.

That moment changed everything. Mehtab turned his personal setback into a full-scale scam operation. Over six years, he duped nearly 300 people and pocketed almost three crore rupees before finally landing in police custody.

In 2019, learning from the scam he himself had fallen for, Mehtab launched his own operation from Mayur Vihar Phase-3. He set up a makeshift call centre, hired telecallers, and began his scheme.

His goal was simple: to do to others what someone had once done to him. By offering fake job opportunities and collecting small fees, he started conning people. Initially, he charged only Rs 2,000 per person, knowing well that the police rarely take small-amount complaints seriously.

But greed grew quickly. Over time, Mehtab increased the amount he collected. His game began to unravel when a resident of Shaheen Bagh accused his team of cheating him out of Rs 13,500.

The South-East District Police immediately escalated the matter, tracking bank accounts and mobile numbers associated with the complaint. Following the trail, they reached a woman named Harshita, in whose name the accounts and SIM cards were purchased. She revealed that she had handed these accounts to a man named Sanjeev Chaudhary.

Using call data records and technical analysis, the Delhi Police connected the dots and uncovered the mastermind behind the entire racket, Mohammad Mehtab Alam, who was running the operation with a team in Mayur Vihar Phase-3.

According to South-East DCP Dr Hemant Tiwari, under the Anti-Cybercrime drive Operation Cyber Hawk, Mehtab Alam was arrested along with two accomplices, Sandeep Singh and Sanjeev Chaudhary. Police have identified nearly 300 victims and uncovered transactions worth approximately Rs 3 crore.

During the crackdown, authorities seized 23 debit cards, 18 laptops, 20 mobile phones, and 16 bank accounts linked to the scam.