The arrested have been identified as John (34), Davies Inemhonlan (31), Sunday Mokobi (38) and Sameer Ahmed.
According to police, they were apprehended following investigations into a complaint by one Arvind Kumar, who alleged he had been cheated to the tune of Rs 4.70 lakh by a person, who had promised him an online lottery of five crore pound via SMS and e-mail.
"The victims belong to various parts of the country and are mostly well-off and educated. The scam has a distinct Metro signature. The worst affected areas were Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. The lure of large sums of lucre led them to deposit their hard earned cash into bank account numbers provided to them by the cheats," said Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police (crime). The gang would specialise in sending text messages and fake e-mails related to lottery.
"The location of the sender is difficult to find in such spoofed e-mails. Once hooked the victim is asked to send sensitive information to a free e-mail account generated by the gang. At the same time a cleverly drafted e-mail advised victims to keep the matter secret till the amount was received by them. The gang then notified the victim through e-mail that releasing the funds would require a small fee to cover transfer fees, insurance, registration, RBI endorsement fees, income tax procedures etc," said DCP Chand.
The victims were contacted both on the mobile phone through SMS and the internet using spam mails, said cops.
"They would win the confidence of the victim. They informed them they had opened an account with Reserve Bank of India in which they had transferred the money won by the victim and if the victim intended to verify this fact they provided him an URL (uniform record locator) along with the account number and pin number," a senior police officer said.
John is a diploma holder in estate management and had come to India in 2005. Currently running a garment business, he exported clothes to Nigeria. He has been staying illegally in India. Meanwhile, Inemhonlan is a graphic designer while Mokobi holds a degree in mass communication.
Ahmad, a resident of Seelampur, met John in 2010 through a common friend, said cops. He allegedly opened bank accounts and facilitated the Nigerian gang in using the accounts to get money from their victims. According to police, he got 10 per cent of the money transferred into the accounts.
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