A 24-year-old man from Gurugram, inspired by a cybercrime character from the web series Pritam and Pedro, has been arrested by Bangur Nagar police for cheating a management student of ₹24.6 lakh.
The accused, identified as Alok K, posed as a student counsellor and convinced the 21-year-old victim that he had been caught cheating during an online examination. He threatened that the student would be debarred and blacklisted, potentially ruining his academic and professional career, unless he paid money to resolve the issue.
During questioning, Alok told police that he had drawn inspiration from the antagonist in the OTT series and planned to use social engineering and impersonation to deceive the student. Police said he had also planned to erase his digital trail.
The victim had enrolled in a distance-learning MBA programme in finance at a reputed management institute in January 2026. He paid an annual fee of ₹1.12 lakh and was allotted a seat.
Police said Alok contacted the student by phone soon after the admission and introduced himself as a student counsellor. The two later met at a café in Juhu, where Alok assisted the student with some admission formalities. This interaction helped him gain the student’s trust.
The fraud began in June while the student was taking an online examination. An alert appeared on his device stating that copying had been detected. The student immediately contacted Alok and denied having cheated.
On the final day of the examination, a similar alert reportedly appeared again before the application crashed. Alok then contacted the student and questioned him about whether he had been copying. The student again denied any wrongdoing.
Police said Alok subsequently frightened the student by claiming that he could be debarred and blacklisted and might be unable to secure admission to another university in the future.
Alok allegedly offered to resolve the matter and began demanding money from the student. He reportedly assured him that the money would be returned if he failed to settle the issue.
Believing the claims, the student transferred ₹24.6 lakh to Alok in several instalments. The accused allegedly returned only ₹1.15 lakh.
The student’s suspicions grew after he successfully completed the examination, while Alok continued demanding more money. He eventually realised that he had been deceived and told his parents about the incident. The family subsequently approached Bangur Nagar police and filed a complaint earlier this month.
Investigators traced Alok through his phone records and followed the money trail before locating him in Gurugram. He was arrested on September 11.
During the investigation, police found that Alok had previously worked at a call centre contracted by the management institute to communicate with students regarding admissions and counselling. Police suspect he obtained the victim’s contact details from the centre’s database and subsequently targeted him.
Two mobile phones have been seized from the accused as part of the investigation.
Police are continuing to investigate the alleged fraud, including the money transfers and the manner in which the accused obtained and used the student’s personal information.
