Two school dropouts held in Delhi for nationwide e-commerce fraud

Lucknow: Two school dropouts of classes 10 and 12 swindled lakhs of rupees from unsuspecting victims by orchestrating an elaborate nationwide cybercrime operation from a leased apartment in Delhi from where they targeted gullible credit card users to make purchases on e-commerce platforms.The duo was arrested by a joint team of Lucknow's Cyber Crime Cell and Ghazipur (Lucknow) Police from Rajouri Garden, Delhi, on Saturday night following a week-long digital trail.Assistant commissioner of police, Ghazipur (Indiranagar), Anindya Vikram Singh, said the accused — identified as Aamir Ansari (27) and Aman Kapoor (32) — posed as executives of Axis Bank and SBI. A third accused, Sikandar Ansari, is still absconding. "They contacted cardholders under the guise of increasing card limits, offering reward points and resolving fake technical issues. Once they gained the victim's trust, they sent phishing links on WhatsApp resembling official bank pages. Gullible victims entered their card numbers, CVV, expiry dates and OTPs, handing the fraudsters all the details needed to make online purchases on Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit and other platforms," said Singh.The scam came to light after Lucknow resident Vishal Bhatt lost Rs 3.37 lakh from his Axis Bank credit card in October 2024. Based on his complaint, police launched a covert probe involving technical surveillance and digital forensics.Police recovered 12 smartphones, 10 keypad mobiles, fake IDs, and detailed datasheets containing the victims' information from the accused. The ACP said that investigations revealed a wider racket, with complaints against the mobile numbers registered in multiple states. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and IT Act.Despite limited formal education, the accused exploited digital tools with chilling precision, proving once again that cybercrime needs neither degrees nor sophistication—just intent and internet access, the ACP added.