Thu, Dec 15, 2022 | Updated 07.52AM IST
- Call centre extorts using Chinese loan apps in Noida; 12 arrested
Call centre extorts using Chinese loan apps in Noida; 12 arrested
Image used for representational purpose only
NOIDA: Police have allegedly busted a call centre extorting money from people through Chinese loan apps and arrested 12. The accused used to access photos on the mobile devices of the loan app clients and extort money by threatening to circulate their morphed photos.
Abhishek Verma, DCP, cyber crime, said, "We received a complaint at the Sector 63 police station two months ago. Then we started receiving more complaints about people duped through loan apps, harassed with their morphed pictures. So, the cyber cell started to look into the matter," he said.
On Tuesday, police managed to zero in on a call centre, Marvel Entertainment, allegedly running in Sector 63 for the past two months. In a raid, police then arrested Puneet Tuli, a resident of Sector 137, Noida; Afzal, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Jitendra, a resident of Bhajanpura, Delhi; Neeraj, a resident of Sector 62, Noida; Shivam, a resident of Meerut; Azim, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Akash Srivastava, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Sumit and Arun, residents of Ghaziabad; Siddharth Ojha, a resident of Sector 63, Noida; Rajneesh Jha and Bharat, residents of Chauhan Patti, Delhi. They also recovered 15 laptops, 36 desktop computers, eight smartphones, two diallers with 32 port systems, 135 SIM cards, 10 headphones and Rs 1 lakh-50,000 cash.
"The accused said they used to be in touch with Chinese nationals, who provided them access to the loan apps and worked as recovery agents. The accused used the data from these apps and targeted people," Verma said.
The apps offered small loans of Rs 4,000-5,000 without guarantees but infiltrated devices and captured personal data, he said. "Once installed on phones, these loan apps accessed contact lists and pictures. The accused would morph the pictures and threaten victims that if they did not pay 10-20 times the loan amounts, friends and family in their contact lists would get the morphed pictures. So far, we have found over Rs 12-13 lakh worth of transactions in each computer recovered," Verma said. According to police, the gang has committed fraud of over Rs 1 crore.
"The involvement of Chinese nationals is also under investigation," Verma said.
He urged people not to use the Free Cash, Mastermelon, and CrediPay apps. "These are available on Playstore. We urge people not to install them."
Abhishek Verma, DCP, cyber crime, said, "We received a complaint at the Sector 63 police station two months ago. Then we started receiving more complaints about people duped through loan apps, harassed with their morphed pictures. So, the cyber cell started to look into the matter," he said.
On Tuesday, police managed to zero in on a call centre, Marvel Entertainment, allegedly running in Sector 63 for the past two months. In a raid, police then arrested Puneet Tuli, a resident of Sector 137, Noida; Afzal, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Jitendra, a resident of Bhajanpura, Delhi; Neeraj, a resident of Sector 62, Noida; Shivam, a resident of Meerut; Azim, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Akash Srivastava, a resident of Sector 66, Noida; Sumit and Arun, residents of Ghaziabad; Siddharth Ojha, a resident of Sector 63, Noida; Rajneesh Jha and Bharat, residents of Chauhan Patti, Delhi. They also recovered 15 laptops, 36 desktop computers, eight smartphones, two diallers with 32 port systems, 135 SIM cards, 10 headphones and Rs 1 lakh-50,000 cash.
"The accused said they used to be in touch with Chinese nationals, who provided them access to the loan apps and worked as recovery agents. The accused used the data from these apps and targeted people," Verma said.
The apps offered small loans of Rs 4,000-5,000 without guarantees but infiltrated devices and captured personal data, he said. "Once installed on phones, these loan apps accessed contact lists and pictures. The accused would morph the pictures and threaten victims that if they did not pay 10-20 times the loan amounts, friends and family in their contact lists would get the morphed pictures. So far, we have found over Rs 12-13 lakh worth of transactions in each computer recovered," Verma said. According to police, the gang has committed fraud of over Rs 1 crore.
"The involvement of Chinese nationals is also under investigation," Verma said.
He urged people not to use the Free Cash, Mastermelon, and CrediPay apps. "These are available on Playstore. We urge people not to install them."
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