UP: Cyber fraudsters get SIMs from West Bengal and northeast states through courier

PRAYAGRAJ: The police have finally decoded the modus operandi of law breakers operating their organised cybercrime activities from unfamiliar villages of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. These cyber fraudsters have established a wide network of obtaining at least 100-150 SIMs daily from West Bengal and northeast states through courier services.
Ironically, each SIM obtained through forged document, is destroyed after making two or three calls to bank customers.
The fraudsters apart from managing bulk of SIM cards on forged documents from neighbouring states, go for wholesale purchase “key-pad” based small mobile phones to operate their nefarious designs.
Following the arrest of seven key operatives including Rupesh Kumar, Ashish Varman, Vishwajeet Varman, Srijan Kumar Mandal, Tapan Kumar Mandal, Dupahi Deeh and Tauseef Jamal from Jamui (Bihar), Malda and Murshidabad (WB) and Jamtara ( Jharkhand) involved in online frauds, sleuths of cybercrime cell managed to bust their networking and modus operandi.
Inspector (Cybercrime cell, Prayagraj range) Rajiv Tiwari told TOI, “Cyber fraudsters are well connected with truck drivers who offer them courier service to deliver bulk of SIMs from northeast states and West Bengal to them operating their activities in unfamiliar villages in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand”.
He added “These cyber criminals become more active during festive season and escape from their traditional hideouts ( small villages) to metropolis to dodge policemen”.
“A single SIM is being procured at a cost of Rs 500 to 800 by these cyber criminals,” said cybercrime expert cop Satyesh adding “ these criminals used to dump each and every small key pad mobile after making two or three calls and prefer to throw these mobiles in rivers” he added. Senior police officers reveal that the first cases of online fraud pertained to mobile recharges in 2011.
IG (Prayagraj range) Rakesh Singh, while appreciating the efforts and hard work of cybercrimecell sleuths, claimed that over 25 key operatives were arrested by police inpast one year and amount worth around Rs one crore was recovered. He also added cops have also managed to freeze amount worth Rs 48 lakh in accounts in banks in the same period which was allegedly duped by fraudsters.