Two of interstate gang held for credit card fraud in Mumbai

The accused are a part of an interstate racket that uses card details to complete fraudulent transactions. (Representational image)

A Mumbai-based man, who is currently in Greece, allegedly lost over Rs 2 lakh after his card details were used to conduct fraudulent transactions in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested two persons in connection with the case on Monday.

Police suspect that the two accused, one from Chiplun in Maharashtra and the other from Rajasthan, are part of an interstate racket that uses card details to complete fraudulent transactions.

Police are on the lookout for other members of the gang.

An officer of the property cell that busted the racket said that the complainant was in Greece earlier this year on a work-related assignment. In the first week of July, he received several text messages informing him about transactions to the tune of Rs 2.16 lakh carried out on his account.

He called up his mother in Mumbai to enquire if she had made any transactions using his card, an officer said. Upon realising that there had been fraud on his account, he told his mother to register a police complaint.

Following the FIR, the property cell of the Mumbai police crime branch began investigating. The police found that the transactions had been made at a steel shop in Chiplun city, Ratnagiri. Based on this lead, they approached the shop owner and located the person from Chiplun, who made these transactions. “On interrogation, the accused told us that he had just made the purchases while the account number was given by someone based in Rajasthan. Based on that, a team went to Rajasthan and arrested the second person,” a senior officer said.

“During the interrogation of the two accused, it has come to light that there are accused in other states who also are part of the gang. Everyone has a particular task, from skimming debit card details to using these to make transactions,” the officer said. The officer said that they have identified the mastermind and he is expected to be arrested soon. Two arrested accused, whose names are being kept confidential until the remaining suspects are arrested, were produced before the court on Monday and are currently in police custody.