Three men have been arrested for allegedly duping people of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of arranging loans for them on the minimum interest rate, police said on Sunday.

The accused have been identified as Ashraf Khan, a resident of Jamia Nagar, Delhi; Tasleem Ahmad, a resident of Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh; and Muzammil Khan, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

According to the police, Meera Devi, a resident of Indra camp, Andrews Ganj, Delhi, had registered a complaint at Defence Colony police station alleging that some unknown persons cheated her of Rs 22,000 on the pretext of arranging loan on a very low interest rate.

She said the accused had contacted her and also sent her a fake loan-sanction letter via WhatsApp.

The accused were found to be using SIM cards procured on fake documents. They constantly changed their mobile handsets, SIM cards and location but were arrested when they came to withdraw cash from an ATM, the police said.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they had duped hundreds of people. They had also hired three girls as telecallers and provided them mobile phones to deal with prospective loan applicants, the police said.

The accused men first chose random mobile numbers and gave it to the telecallers, who would contact the victims over the phone and assure them of providing easy loans on minimum interest rates. They would ask the victims to deposit some amount in a bank account as a processing fee for documentary formalities, the police said.

They then provided the victims different account numbers to deposit the amounts. After getting the amounts deposited in the given accounts, they would send the fake loan-sanction letters on WhatsApp or by email. Later, after getting the money, the accused would change their mobile numbers, the police added.

The police said the accused prepared the forged loan-approval letters and stamp from their laptop and printer, with a person called Prince providing the account details.

Police sources said the gang’s kingpin, Ashraf Khan, was a BBA graduate who left a job after working for two years to start his own business of marketing and installing CCTV sets.

The police said he formed the gang with two relatives after his business failed.

Two cars, Rs 3 lakh in cash, one laptop, six mobile phones, 24 SIM cards, several debit cards, letterheads and rubber stamps of various finance companies were recovered from the possession of the accused, the police added.