Credit card fraud gang busted in Kashi, 3 held

Varanasi: The cyber crime cell on Tuesday busted a gang that allegedly duped people of lakhs of rupees by seeking details of their existing credit cards on pretext of offering lifetime free credit cards and arrested three of its members. Police said over 50 FIRs have been lodged against the gang across the country.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Akash Patel said that after interrogation, the cyber crime cell along with Sarnath police arrested Anish Verma of Ballia, Purushottam Kumar and Tuktuk Kumar Pandit of Deoghar in Jharkhand. The accused were tracked down, following complaints received through the recently launched portal ‘Pratibimb', a platform for reporting cybercrime cases. During questioning, police found that more than 50 complaints were lodged against the gang in various states. The accused allegedly created fake IDs on Facebook to advertise credit cards with enhanced limits and lure people. Once someone responds, the gang would collect their mobile numbers along with PAN and bank account details and persuade them to install a counterfeit APK file resembling an ICICI Bank credit card application. Thereafter, the accused would ask them, during video calls, to share details of their existing credit cards.Police said the fake app enabled the gang to receive victims' OTPs and SMS data on their own "ICICI Admin" app. Using this, they carried out online transactions, wallet transfers and generated virtual cards to withdraw money. The accused allegedly used fake SIM cards and frequently changed mobile devices to transfer the defrauded money into bank accounts through various wallets using rent-pay facilities, besides making direct online purchases. Police said the initial investigation has estimated cyber fraud of around Rs50 lakh. Police recovered 10 mobile phones, 9 SIM cards, and digital evidence including details of about 200 APK files and several suspicious apps such as ICICI Admin, User Admin, Virtual Card Holder, Zetpartner, Zil Money, T-Wallet, C-Wallet, Superpay and Aaba Pay.