CID arrests three for cheating customers with fake banking app

Ranchi: The criminal investigation department (CID) has nabbed three cybercriminals, who swindled ₹5.18 lakh from the account of an SBI bank customer, by making him instal a fake YONO application on his mobile phone.
The arrested criminals are identified as Bobby Kumar Mandal, Vinod Kumar Mandal and Kunal Kumar Ram, all from Giridih district. Cash amounting to Rs 8.29 lakhs, five mobile phones, six SIM cards, one chequebook, two ATM cards, Aadhaar cards and a PAN card have been seized from them.
Explaining the modus operandi of the criminals, the CID director general, Anuraag Gupta, said the criminals sent an SMS to the victim, Pravin Sahu of the Arogra area in Ranchi, saying his SBI YONO validity has expired. They also sent a link to update his PAN card allegedly for reactivation. As soon as the customer clicked on the link, a fake YONO app was installed on his mobile phone. When he logged in for internet banking, the cyber criminals got access to his user ID, password, OTP and other details through the data dashboard.
Gupta said, “We coordinated with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre to identify the criminals. Vinod and Kunal, both of them in their early twenties, were in jail for cybercrimes earlier as well. They started committing crimes again after coming out from jail on bail.”
He further said the accused developed the fake YONO app through coding and sell the fake app to other cybercriminals. “To prevent criminals from indulging in such cybercrimes, the CID is trying to ensure that the accused do not get easily and that they were convicted. The department will also ensure that fake documents are not used to get SIM cards and for opening bank accounts,” Gupta said.
The DG advised people not to share their personal information with strangers, avoid clicking on links provided through SMS and use Google Play Protect before using the Google Playstore.