Three held for running site to provide ‘original-like’ fake ID cards
On Wednesday, cybercrime sleuths exposed a major nexus involved behind the functioning of the online platform. This site was being used by scammers to facilitate cybercrime activities across India.
LUCKNOW Three men have been held by the cybercrime unit of the U.P. Police for running a portal promising to provide fake but original-like Aadhaar, PAN and other ID cards for just ₹20.
On Wednesday, cybercrime sleuths exposed a major nexus involved behind the functioning of the online platform. This site was being used by scammers to facilitate cybercrime activities across India.
The investigation, so far, has revealed that one such website recorded nearly 4 lakh downloads of Aadhaar and PAN card templates in the last couple of years and this figure could turn out to be much bigger as the probe progresses, said officials.
Superintendent of Police (SP) of Cyber Crime, Triveni Singh, said the three accused have been identified as -- Afzal Alam of East Champaran, Bihar, Mohd Irshad of Gaya, Bihar, and Sushil Kumar Maurya from Amethi.
The cop added that many more people are involved in this countrywide nexus spread across different states. These people are offering convincing duplicates by stealing database of the common people to prepare forged ID cards.
Sharing further details, the SP said that the nexus of these fraudsters has almost prepared a parallel system to create forged Aadhaar and PAN cards using a software and a website through which the forged IDs get verified whenever banks and other agencies crosscheck the identity of a person.
He said the soft copy of the ID card can be printed and used for different purposes like getting SIM cards, opening bank accounts, and other fraudulent activities. “We have detected money transaction of nearly ₹80 lakh in their different bank accounts, and they charge ₹20 for one such bogus ID card. So, the calculation suggests that as many as around 4 lakh downloads of forged Aadhaar and PAN card templates,” he added.
The cop further said that it is a major challenge to reach out the mastermind behind developing websites or applications that generated fake PAN cards, voter ID and Aadhaar cards and those who were in the supply chain network of this gang across India.
The SP said that the fraudsters easily manipulate the original details and morph them to create forged documents. The resulting fake documents contained valid Aadhaar or PAN numbers and names but all other information was fabricated.
He said the gang has managed to get access to UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) API through a fraudulent website and other online channels. At no point was the database of UIDAI and NSDL got compromised or breached, he added.
Recommended Topics