Trio held for selling bank accounts to cybercriminals

Police said the accused and their bank associate used customers’ names and credentials to open bank accounts and sold them for 30% commission

New Delhi

The accused were SIM card retailers and were arrested through technical surveillance. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Three persons who sold SIM cards in Dwarka were arrested for allegedly misusing customers’ private information to open bank accounts and selling them to cybercriminals for a 30% cut of the fraud amount, police said on Wednesday.

Police said the accused also started cheating people on Telegram. In April, they cheated a woman of ₹10.3 lakh by luring her on pretext of high-return investments, by adding her to a group and gaining her trust since February.

Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said, “The woman gave them money over the next few weeks and later realised she had been cheated. We took her call detail records and found the accused were residents of Delhi and were using SIM cards registered in names of others to run their scam.”

Police said it took them two months to trace their location, as they were using multiple SIM cards and devices.

An investigator said they found one of the accused, Vipin Kumar, 30, at a shop in Azadpur terminal and upon his instance, arrested Mohit Sharma, 27, and Samarth Dabar, 23, from Civil Lines on Monday.

“Kumar said he worked as a SIM card seller at Azadpur. He met his associates while selling them multiple SIM cards. Soon, the trio opened a bank account using a friend’s help, as he works with the bank. They targeted customers who didn’t have a smartphone and who ignored SMS updates from banks,” the DCP said.

Police said the accused and their bank associate used customers’ names and credentials to open bank accounts and sold them. “The accused would sell details of the bank accounts to their associates on Telegram for a 30% commission. Dabar was tasked to keep in touch with gangs and other individuals who wanted bank accounts and SIM card details,” Singh said.

Police said there are many other “active associates” who are yet to be nabbed. A senior police officer said teams are working on the case to make more arrests.