Noida police bust fake insurance renewal scam; four arrested

The suspects were allegedly running a fake call centre for past two months, deceiving policyholders with false promises of renewals and discounts

NOIDA: A joint team of Sector 24 police and the cyber cell unearthed a fake insurance renewal scam on Tuesday and arrested four people from Sector 11 for allegedly duping policyholders of a prominent insurance company linked to a public sector bank, officers said.

The suspects would call policyholders for policy renewals and if policyholders resisted, they resorted to threats, claiming it would result in financial recovery actions. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The suspects were allegedly running a fake call centre for past two months, deceiving policyholders with false promises of renewals and discounts, they added.

“During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they posed as authorised representatives of insurance firms and insurance ombudsman officials to build credibility. With prior experience in the insurance sector and a private sector bank (name withheld), they had extensive knowledge of insurance policies and access to personal data. They exploited this expertise to deceive victims into paying for fake policy renewals and refunds, collecting money under the guise of administrative charges,” said Yamuna Prasad, deputy commissioner of police.

Police identified the suspects as Pankaj Kumar Singh, 28, and Rahul Yadav, 29, both residents of Delhi, Kushagra Pandey, 24, resident of Noida and Rajpal Singh, 30, a resident of Rajasthan. It seized 16 mobile phones, three bundles of policy-related documents, and other incriminating materials from their possession.

According to police, the gang used stolen data to obtain detailed information about the insurance policies. They would call policyholders for policy renewals and if policyholders resisted, they resorted to threats, claiming it would result in financial recovery actions. Tricked by the gang’s tactics, several policyholders transferred money to accounts opened by the accused.

When policyholders contacted their public sector bank for clarification, they discovered that no renewals had been processed, exposing the scam.

The gang targeted victims across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and other states, operating from rented spaces to evade detection, police said.

According to the police, the accused defrauded about 10 to 12 individuals and some of them of as much as ₹10-12 lakh. Several similar cases have surfaced, and efforts are on to identify if there were other victims.

Police further revealed that 16 mobile phones were seized during the operation, and a bank account linked to the fraud has been identified, they added.

“The accused have been booked under section 319(2) (cheating by impersonation), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 61(2) (whoever is party to criminal conspiracy) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), at Sector 24 police station. We urge citizens to verify the credentials of callers before transferring any money,” the DCP added.