Indian Police Bust $550 Million Internet Scam That Duped Thousands
Indian police have busted an internet scam in which around 650,000 people lost a combined 37 billion rupees ($549 million) after sending money to a company that promised they would earn cash by clicking on web links, police said on Friday.
Police, who described the pyramid-style scheme as one of India's biggest ever, said they had arrested three ringleaders on the outskirts of New Delhi, the capital, and seized more than 5 billion rupees ($74 million) from bank accounts.
"They learned that if you give some money back to members, the investments would go up exponentially," Amit Pathak, head of a police cyber crime unit in India's populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters.
The men ran a series of websites that promised would-be subscribers a chance to earn five rupees (...