Cyber police bust Kolkata gang that duped SoBo family of ₹1.48 crore

The officials said the modus operandi of the gang members was to dial numbers of middle and upper-middle-class families in India and abroad and alarm them that their credit cards might be vulnerable to fraud. They would speak convincingly in an American accent and slyly get details of their credit cards

MUMBAI: The cyber police officials busted a fake credit card helpline racket running from Kolkata and arrested seven persons of the gang which allegedly duped three members of a Churchgate-based family to the tune of ₹1.48 crore, by offering to help them “secure” their credit cards from frauds during an online transaction.

Cyber police bust Kolkata gang that duped SoBo family of ₹1.48 crore

The officials said the modus operandi of the gang members was to dial numbers of middle and upper-middle-class families in India and abroad and alarm them that their credit cards might be vulnerable to fraud. They would speak convincingly in an American accent and slyly get details of their credit cards. They would then use the cards to purchase expensive items and later sell them in the grey market.

The police said they seized ₹50 lakh in cash, goods worth over ₹10 lakh, including 27 expensive mobile phones, 5 costly watches, 3 airpods, a MacBook, an iPad, eleven perfume bottles, two ladies’ purses, two refrigerators, two air conditioners, two printers, one kitchen chimney. All these items, the police said, were purchased by using the victim’s credit cards.

The gang is arrested for allegedly duping three members of a south Mumbai family of ₹1.48 crore between February 29 and March 3, when the prime suspect Ryan spoke to the 55-year-old complainant’s London-based daughter. The police have recorded a demo of the accused describing how they dupe people. “The accused would call the victims, posing as fraud action team of internationally known establishments and inform the victim that the details of their credit card have been compromised and multiple transactions were attempted on the card/s,” said Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police, crime branch.

He added, “The accused would then inform the victims that they were cancelling all the fraudulent transactions and upgrade the security of the account in such a way that the customer will never land up in any kind of trouble like that.”

In further discussion, the accused would request the victim to co-operate in the process and eventually access confidential details of their cards along with their registered mobile numbers, Nalawade added. He said they would not stop at that but also dig out information about credit cards owned by their spouses and children.

In this manner, Nalawade added, the gang obtained details of several cards owned by the complainant and two of her family members and purchased goods worth ₹1.48 crore. The police officer said they went on to even transfer money from the savings bank account of the complainant’s daughter to her credit card. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they purchased expensive electronic items and other things and deliveries were made to different places in Kolkata.

The complainant approached the police on March 7 and an FIR was registered in the South Cyber police station.

A police team got a lead about the accused and visited Kolkata, but the accused had fled to Siliguri. “We then tracked them down to Siliguri and arrested them with the help of the local police and brought them to the city,” said senior police inspector Nandkumar Gopale.