E-Paper
Chandigarh: Jamtara gang duping people with credit card offers busted
Four members of a Jamtara gang were arrested from Delhi, Gurugram following a Chandigarh resident’s complaint
The cyber crime team of Chandigarh Police has busted a four-member Jamtara gang whose members have been defrauding people by posing as bank managers and luring them with offers.
The accused, hailing from Jamtara in Jharkhand, operated in a manner similar to the Jamtara gang of the Netflix series of the same name, said police.
The arrests came following a probe into the complaint of Chandigarh resident Devadatha. He had reported that he received a call from an unknown number, with the caller introducing himself as a manager with ICICI bank.
The caller said he was from ICICI bank’s credit card department and was calling to update his ICICI bank app. For this, he asked him to download the APK (android package kit) file that he had shared.
As the complainant downloaded the file, he received three one-time-passwords (OTPs), followed by three messages that money had been deducted from his credit card. Devadatha said he then realised that he had been cheated of ₹2.09 lakh.
Following his complaint, police launched a probe, and with the help of technical assistance and secret information, traced the gang to Delhi and Gurugram.
Following raids at different places, on February 15, Chandigarh Police arrested two accused, 23-year-old Akshay Kumar, a resident of Dumka district, Jharkhand, and Bipin Kumar, a resident of Katihar district, Bihar.
On their disclosure, police conducted more raids in Delhi, leading to the arrest of Vikas and Rajesh.
Called victims on pretext of updating bank app
Sharing the gang’s modus operandi, SP (Cyber Crime) Ketan Bansal said the accused would call people, posing as executives of ICICI credit card branch.
They would ask them to download the APK file to update their ICICI credit card mobile app, while also luring them with special offers regarding waiver of annual charges on the ICICI app.
Further, if people did not download the APK file, they would activate their screen-sharing mode through WhatsApp video call to fetch the data of their phone. After downloading the APK file and through screen sharing, they got credentials of credit cards from the victim and fraudulently withdrew money.
Bought gold coins with defrauded money
Police said as part of their elaborate plan, the gang would purchase gold coins via AJIO online shopping app using the defrauded amount.
They would get these coins delivered at fake addresses across major cities. As the app provides instant delivery within two to three hours, they would receive the gold coins and further sell them in another city.
Police have recovered multiple gold coins, weighing 10 gm, from the possession of the accused. Akshay and Bipin were arrested from near Ramada Hotel in Gurugram after they reached there to get a gold coin’s delivery. The accused further disclosed that the delivery was to be handed over to their gang members, leading to the arrest of Vikas and Rajesh, said police.
