The Gurugram police arrested three suspects for allegedly opening bank accounts using documents of people who were duped into seeking a job, officers aware of the matter said. The suspects also opened accounts on forged documents and sold them to cyber criminals, they added. The police recovered six mobile phones, six ATM cards, 38 SIM cards and Rs10,000 cash from their possession.
According to the police, a resident of Gurugram filed a complaint on December 26 of last year that he had been duped by an unidentified person of ₹50,000 through a digital payment link.
After verifying the allegations, the police registered a fraud case at the cyber crime south police station.
Vipin Ahlawat, assistant commissioner of police, cyber crime, said that they identified the number that was used to dupe the complainant. “The number was traced and one of the suspects was located on Sohna Road on Monday. We traced his location and caught him. During questioning, he revealed the names of his two associates who were part of his gang,” he said.
The suspects were identified as Mohammad Irshad of Jamalgarh, Shahrukh Khan and Saif, of Lafuri village in Nuh, said officers.
Siddhant Jain, deputy commissioner of police (cyber), said that during questioning, the suspects revealed that they were helping cyber criminals who wanted bank accounts to transfer money after duping victims. “We have identified the accounts used and have asked banks to freeze them. The suspects revealed their modus operandi — how they used to place advertisements on social media platforms for jobs and when someone approached them seeking a job, they used to ask for their identity proofs such as PAN card, Aadhaar card and driving licences, and used these documents to open bank accounts. They used to get ATM cards issued and sold these accounts for between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh. We are yet to identify other suspects involved in this fraud,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Siddhant Jain, deputy commissioner of police (cyber), said that during questioning, the suspects revealed that they were helping cyber criminals who wanted bank accounts to transfer money after duping victims. “We have identified the accounts used and have asked banks to freeze them. The suspects revealed their modus operandi — how they used to place advertisements on social media platforms for jobs and when someone approached them seeking a job, they used to ask for their identity proofs such as PAN card, Aadhaar card and driving licences, and used these documents to open bank accounts. They used to get ATM cards issued and sold these accounts for between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh. We are yet to identify other suspects involved in this fraud,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Nuh Police said that at least 400,000 illegally procured and activated SIM cards that were deactivated last year were being used by an organised cybercrime racket based in Nuh. The investigators said that an estimated 600,000 more of such cards could be active and being operated from the region.