32-year-old arrested for aiding ₹23-lakh bank account hacking

The accused, Ramesh Kawaria, is a history-sheeter, who the police suspect is part of a larger gang which works across the country.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday evening for helping others hack into several people’s bank accounts and possessing a country-made pistol.

According to the police, the gang members would then approach mobile phone stores, claiming their phones were stolen and submitted copies of the documents they obtained from Kawaria in order to buy new SIM cards.(HT File)

The accused, Ramesh Kawaria, is a history-sheeter, who the police suspect is part of a larger gang which works across the country. According to police, the gang hacks into people’s bank accounts by buying copies of their ID proofs from various agencies.

“People have their mobile numbers linked to various documents — bank account numbers, Aadhaar cards or PAN cards. Kawaria used to look for agencies where people submitted their documents and sold it to his gang for ₹1000 to ₹2000 per document,” said Anil Honrao, senior police inspector. “The gang then studied the profiles of these people, hacked into their accounts and tracked their online banking activities.”

According to the police, the gang members would then approach mobile phone stores, claiming their phones were stolen and submitted copies of the documents they obtained from Kawaria in order to buy new SIM cards.

“The original SIM numbers would stop working overnight and the gang, using the duplicate number would hack into people’s bank accounts and transfer amounts to other accounts,” said Honrao.

Police said people usually would think there is an issue with their mobile number but by the time they reactivated their SIM cards, the money would have gone missing.

“Those who are alert and inform early usually help stop transactions in time. The money is transferred in multiple accounts and withdrawn to avoid leaving any paper trail. Kawaria has transferred ₹23 lakh this way and has cases registered against him in Vanrai police station Mumbai and cyber crime cell in Hyderabad,” Honrao said.

Kawaria was absconding since February this year and was wanted for bank fraud. The crime branch got a tip-off that Kawaria was residing in Diva and kept a watch. They found an account in his name wherein he had transferred ₹8 lakh. The police caught him and booked him under the Arms Act as he had a country-made pistol, before handing him over to Mumbai police for bank fraud cases.