Gang of online fraudsters busted, 4 held from Delhi

The modus operandi was to get victims to reveal all personal information, even bank account details in an online form, after making them believe that this was for a required for a job that they had been selected for; in the case of the victim in Gurdaspur, she even shared an OTP received on her mobile; 37 swipe machines recovered from those held

Gurdaspur Police have busted an eight-member gang of online fraudsters with the arrest of four of its members from Delhi on Thursday.

The accused in Gurdaspur police custody on Thursday. (HT Photo)

Gurdaspur SSP Rajinder Singh Sohal said, “We received a complaint from Kiranpreet Khakh, of Ranjit Bagh locality of Dinanagar, on August 5. She claimed she was tricked into providing detailed information about herself, on the pretext of a job, leading to fraudulent withdrawal from her bank account.” He added that she had uploaded her biodata on an employment portal, after which she received phone calls from two different phone numbers.

“The speakers told her they had checked her biodata and the process to recruit her is on. They sent her a link of an online form on WhatsApp, which she filled out giving her complete information. Then she received an One-Time Password (OTP) that she conveyed to those who called her, after they demanded it. Within minutes, her bank account was debited of Rs 5 lakh and transferred to other accounts,” he said.

On her complaint, a case was registered under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 of the IT Act at the Dinangar police station. On the basis of the details of the bank accounts to which the money was transferred, police chalked out a plan. A team went to Delhi to execute the arrests.

The items recovered from those arrested are a scanner, a camera, a DVR box, 37 swipe machines of banks and seven fake Aadhaar cards.