Ludhiana: The Ludhiana police have busted a gang of cyber fraudsters who by using the ID proofs of others were involved in duping people of lakhs of rupees. Importantly, by using these ID proofs of other people, the accused were also ensuring that they don’t get traced easily. Keeping this thing in mind, the city police have suggested a few things for the people to avoid getting duped and trapped by the cyber criminals.
The modus operandi of these cyber fraudsters, who are a part of an inter-state gang, is that they fraudulently take the copies of Aadhar and PAN cards of the people, further use these IDs to open instant bank accounts (which are opened without verification). Further, they use these bank accounts to either get online loans or to deposit money duped from people by various means in these.
The additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), crime, Rupinder Kaur Bhatti, said, “The first thing which the police managed to find out is that the accused used to purchase the ID proofs from the other states and also sell ID proofs to them. These accused have links with the SIM card distributors, while some themselves are distributors. So, when people came to them to get new SIM cards, they used to take a copy of their Aadhar card and get their pictures with them. The accused also issued two SIMs, one of which they used to keep with themselves. Mostly, these ID proofs and mobile numbers were sold to cyber criminals.”
“The first thing the people have to keep in mind is that they should not share their ID proofs on Whatsapp with anyone. While getting a new SIM they have to ensure that the accused do not keep the copy of their proof with them. Some telecom companies take pictures and some take fingerprints while issuing a SIM card. So, if the person is taking the picture or fingerprints twice, you have to cross check it. Also, it is an advice to residents to try and visit only the customer care stores, rather going to the ones in mohallas. Some of the arrested accused also work as SIM distributors and keep the ID proof of people to be later used in frauds,” she added.
Once the accused manages to open the bank accounts, they either get online loans from different online platforms or sell these accounts to other cyber criminals.
ADCP Rupinder added that, “One important thing which people must remember now is that no authentic company will ever ask for any ID proof or OTP on a phone call. The accused have done frauds with some Ola drivers by impersonating as Ola officials. At first, they used to book a ride and then call posing as Ola officials by saying that the ride would be confirmed only after sharing the Aadhar card number and the OTP sent on their mobile phones. Further, on their IDs also they have opened bank accounts.”
The officer shared that these accounts were further used to commit various frauds in which people were duped of lakhs of rupees. When the police tried to trace the fraudsters, they would only be able to reach those persons whose IDs had been used fraudulently by the accused. So, people have to be very careful while sharing their ID proofs with anyone, she added.
Box- Tips to check cyber frauds
* Prefer going to customer care stores of the telecommunication companies to get SIM cards, rather than going to vendors
* Don’t share your ID proofs on Whatsapp
* While sharing ID proofs, ensure that the person does not keep an extra copy of it
* Cross check if the SIM distributor asks for picture or fingerprints for the second time
* Never share any OTP or any number of an ID proof with any phone caller
Box: 7 fraudsters held on Nov 25
On November 25, in a joint operation the cyber cell of Ludhiana police, CIA-II and the counter intelligence department had busted a gang of cyber fraudsters who were part of an inter-state gang of fraudsters and cyber criminals. Besides duping money by availing loans with ID proofs, the accused also used to assist other cyber criminals. With the arrest of these seven accused, the city police had also come to know about a racket which was selling genuine Aadhar and PAN cards of people for merely Rs 100 to the cyber criminals.
Those arrested are Vijay Kumar Bittu of Krishna Nagar, Anshuman Singh of Lakshmi Nagar, Sushil Kumar Patel of Mahadev Nagar, Sooraj of Makkar Colony, Sanjay Kumar of Prem Nagar, Rohit of Bhora Colony and Ram Narayan of Lakshmi Nagar. The police have recovered Rs 5.45 lakh, 11 mobile phones, three credit cards, 17 SIMs, two laptops, one scanner, one colour printer, 45 PAN cards, six memory cards and 11 debit cards from their possession.