Sonipat fraudsters behind HP messaging service scam

DHARAMSHALA: A major scam by some fraudsters in the name of messaging service in Una district has left many people duped of their money. Police nabbed the main accused in the scam last week and are likely to summon more suspects from Sonipat area of Haryana for interrogation.


According to well placed sources, police on Wednesday summoned some suspects from Sonipat for interrogation.

On September 5, police had arrested the main accused in the case from Gohana town of Sonipat district and recovered Rs 8 lakh, a luxury vehicle and two mobile phones from his custody.

Assistant superintendent of police Vinod Dhiman confirmed the arrest and summoning of some people from Sonipat. "Investigations are on. We cannot disclose much at this stage," he added.

In September 2018, Una police had registered a case against Indian Advertisement Service (IAS) company operating in the area after people had staged a protest at the district headquarters against the alleged fraud. The case was registered under sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The company had offered monthly remuneration to those who forwarded messages assigned to them. It gave log-in identities to people for messaging, with a daily limit of 100. The company used to give incentives, starting from 5,000 every month, for this. The company had sold each login ID at Rs 2,950 on discount and Rs 8,000 without discount, while franchises were sold for Rs 30,000 each, sources said. However, in September 2018, the company suddenly shut operation and disappeared.