Cyber fraud: Cyberabad police blame banks for lax verification

HYDERABAD: The cyber fraud unearthed by Cyberabad police where fraudsters duped banks using forged documents is not the first time, but using credentials of dead persons is a first, say police. While social media platforms helped accused gather details of their victims, the laxity in the banking system and procedures of telecom operators came as a blessing in disguise for them. Cyberabad police are now writing to government agencies about the loopholes.

The six-member gang siphoned off Rs 59 lakh from six banks using forged documents of the victims, all techies who died in 2019.

Inquiries so far have revealed that they targeted only those deceased techies whose pay scale meant instant loan approvals by banks. All the techies they duped were earning more than Rs 7 lakh per annum. The gang was also trying to siphon money from a bank in Bengaluru. But before they could do so, they landed in the police net.

One of the victims was Repakula Vishnu Kumar who died in September, 2019 in the Godavari boat tragedy. Rs 13.50 lakh was siphoned using his name. Four months after his death, the gang approached the mobile service provider for a duplicate SIM on his name and managed to get it immediately after submitting forged documents.

Inquiries revealed that there was no verification done while issuing the SIM card. Even when the gang members approached the banks with forged documents, they were given access to the accounts of the victims without too many verifications. “Had the bank authorities verified signatures or photographs already uploaded in their database, they could have avoided the fraud. But it appears that banks ignored this most common verification process and sanctioned loans of large amounts,” an investigating official said.

Stating that such frauds can be a threat to the banking system, Cyberabad police are now writing to the Department of Telecommunications, Reserve Bank of India and other stakeholders, alerting them about the fraud. Police may also seek the custody of the accused for a thorough investigation into the racket.