34 smartphones, 27,761 sim cards, 77 complaints, and Rs 9,73,000 in cash — these are among the items recovered by the Delhi Police in an interstate crackdown on a “pan-India customer care number scam” being operated from Jharkhand’s Jamtara — also called the phishing capital of India.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, 19 April, DCP (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh said, “Six fraudsters accused of duping at least 2,500 people of lakhs of rupees by posing as customer care executives were nabbed by a team of the cyber-crime unit officials from outer north Delhi.”
“The fraudsters were posting their mobile numbers as the customer care number of banks of repute, and online shopping website such as Flipkart and Amazon,” DCP Singh claimed.
‘Money Gone Within Seconds’
The complainant is a Dubai-based businessman who had come to visit his daughter at the Delhi Technical University (DTU).
For the purpose of getting her bank passbook updated, he searched for the contact of State Bank of India (SBI) customer care on Google.
“I dialed the first number which showed up on Google. On calling the said number, the person on the other end, who spoke convincingly and posed as customer care executive, asked me to download an application called ‘SBI ANY DESK’ from the play store for further assistance,” the complainant told the Police.
As per the complaint, he was then asked to open his net banking application and the call was transferred to a supposed “senior executive” who managed to get access to the complainant’s phone.
Within seconds, two unauthorised transactions of Rs 9,50,000 and 50,000 were made from the complainant’s bank.
The Modus Operandi
Soon after receiving the complaint, an FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Bawana under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per DCP Singh, the police “intensively followed the money trail and found that the case in question is a pan India organised cyber fraud.”
Using surveillance and technical leads, a raid was conducted in Nawadih village in Jamtara district. On further investigation it was found that the sim cards to the accused were supplied by a person from Regi Nagar in Murshidabad and in one smartphone at least 300 sim cards were activated on a daily basis.DCP (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh
He further said that the accused ran paid advertisements on Google stating their number as the number of customer care executives of banks and online shopping platforms.
Who are the Accused?
As per the police, Nizamuddin Ansari, 23, is the leader of the gang and was previously arrested in a cyber crime case in 2021 when he spent four months in jail.
The other accused include Afroz Alam (22), Amir Ansari (22), Sarfaraz Ansari (22), Afroz Ansari (22), and Nasim Malitya (31).
The Jamtara Model
Jamtara also called India’s phishing capital is infamous for being the hub of cyber crimes. In fact, a 2020 Netflix show ‘Jamtara — Sabka Number Aayega’ detailed the modus operandi of the gangs who function in the area.
“During the operation we noticed that those involved in the scam had build luxurious houses in an otherwise backward village. Most of the money they get through these scams, is pumped into buying the sim cards, smartphones, and other logistics required for the crime. Some money is also being spent on Google advertisements,” DCP Singh said.
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