Ludhiana Trio Arrested in Telegram-Based Work-from-Home Fraud

On November 1, 2025, cyber police in Chandigarh announced the arrest of Neeraj Pandey, a 25-year-old resident of Ludhiana, in connection with a work-from-home scam that defrauded a woman of Rs 9 lakh. Pandey is the third suspect to be apprehended in the case, following the earlier arrests of Shivam (21) and Pramod Kumar (24), also from Ludhiana.

The victim, Gurvinder Pal Kaur, had filed a complaint stating that she was duped through a Telegram-based job offer. She was asked to perform fake online review tasks with the promise of high commissions. Initially, the fraudsters paid her small amounts to build trust, but later convinced her to transfer over Rs 9 lakh on the pretext of unlocking a frozen account.

During the investigation, cyber police traced the money trail to the bank accounts held by Shivam and Pramod Kumar. Digital evidence and transaction analysis confirmed the flow of funds between their accounts. Further technical investigation revealed that the Telegram accounts used to communicate with the victim were operated using IP addresses originating from Cambodia, indicating possible international involvement in the scam.