Inspired by ‘Special 26’ film, criminals dupe people by posing as ED and ACB officials

The five men allegedly stole customers’ data while leaving their insurance companies to target the public and make a fast buck

Bollywood flick Special 26 appeared to have inspired five men, who duped unsuspecting public until the law caught up with them on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The racket was busted on Thursday after the men sent a fake notice in ED’s name to one of the victims, who alerted the authorities about a possible fraud.(HT Photo)

The arrested accused took to the crime after they had lost their jobs in insurance companies about two years ago, the police said.

The five men allegedly stole customers’ data while leaving their insurance companies to target the public and make a fast buck.

The modus operandi was simple.

Initially, they duped the victims on the pretext of offering hefty bonuses on their insurance policies. Later, they would extort money from them by posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) officials and offering to help them recover their lost money, the police said.

The racket was busted on Thursday after they had sent a fake notice in ED’s name to one of the victims, who alerted the authorities about a possible fraud.

“The criminals had used fake addresses and identity proofs to get SIM (subscriber identification module) cards to make these calls and opened a bank account in which the booty made out of deceiving people was deposited. But they would use ATMs (automated teller machines) to withdraw the cash. The CCTV (closed-circuit TV) footage in the ATM booths provided us clues to their identities and we nabbed all five of them,” said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (crime branch), Delhi Police.

The five men, who are aged between 24 and 35, are residents of Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad in the national capital region (NCR).

Delhi Police’s crime branch tweeted, “Crime Branch busted a gang of interstate criminals with the arrest of five. Inspired by Special 26 they were posing as officials of ED and ACB . ATM and SIM cards on fake KYC (know your customer) and laptop used in the crime recovered.”

The police said that the crime was brought to the ED’s notice by a man, whose identity has been kept under wraps. The complainant had been purchasing insurance policies since 2013.

Sometime last year, the complainant started receiving calls from people, who claimed to be insurance officials. “They told him that he had won a hefty bonus on his insurance policy, but had to pay an advance tax and a processing fee,” said the DCP.

Over the next few months, the complainant received multiple such calls and finally deposited Rs 10.6 lakh in a bank account.

Last August, he started receiving phone calls from people, who claimed to be ED officials. “Initially, they approached him on the pretext of helping him recover his lost money. Later, they tried to extort money from him by threatening him of action by ED,” said DCP Deo.

They even sent him a fake summon in ED’s name in a bid to lend a credible ring to their con job.

“When he received the summon, he contacted the ED authorities, who found the document to be fake. On August 17, the deputy director of ED brought it to our notice and we began our probe,” said the DCP.

Though the SIM cards and the bank account were found registered against fake identities, Delhi Police focused on the cash withdrawal mechanism of the suspects that was found to be from ATMs in Delhi-NCR.

“Clues from CCTV footage helped us track them down to Kaushambi (in Ghaziabad),” said the DCP.

The officer said that the mastermind of the crime was Rahul Singh (30), who had earlier worked for a private firm in Noida that used to deal in insurance brokerage.

“The firm was fined and had to shut down in 2018 after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) hauled it up for violations. Singh had stolen the customers’ data before he had quit the company,” said the DCP.

Singh also allegedly went on to rope in Shadab and Junaid, who, too, had lost their jobs in the same company. Soon, two other partners-in-crime -- Sumit Sharma and Naveen Kumar – joined them, as they had also lost their jobs at another insurance company, but had managed to steal customers’ data.

“Since January 2019, they had been targeting unsuspecting insurance policyholders. In the beginning, some of them would dupe the customers on the pretext of offering hefty bonuses on their policies. Later, other members of the gang would pose as ED and ACB officials to further extort from their victims,” the officer added.