Security agencies have arrested 10 alleged cyber criminals while busting a gang of operatives who duped more than 60 people by posing as army personnel. The multi-agency operation was triggered after initial inputs were shared by the Military Intelligence (MI) unit of the Southern Army Command based in Pune, they said.
Kingpin Sanjeev Kumar held first in Rajasthan
A “notorious” cyber-criminal and alleged kingpin in the case, Sanjeev Kumar, 30, was first apprehended by the police from Bharatpur in Rajasthan and following his interrogation by joint teams of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Police along with the MI.
The module included seasoned cyber criminals who had been active for a long time and had duped innocent civilians by posing as army men. They identified their victims through online house renting and other websites and gained their trust by using morphed identity documents of serving a purported army personnel, Deepak Bajrang Pawar.
Modus operandi
The module adopted an efficient method of duping their victims by making a notional payment of a few rupees to verify the transaction for the settled deal of renting a property or buying some goods, primarily a second-hand vehicle. They then posed technical issues and requested victims to share OTPs or scan QR codes, which resulted in the reverse transfer of funds from victims’ accounts.
The fraudster module and imposters were also wanted in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and many other states. So far, several fabricated military identity/canteen cards, PAN, Aadhaar cards, over three dozen mobile phones, 206 SIM cards, and seven laptops have been recovered from the above spots.
Operated from tri-junction to evade arrest
To evade arrest, the accomplices of the module operated from the tri-junction of UP / Haryana/ Delhi/ Rajasthan (Bharatpur/ Mewat region), used multiple SIM cards and mobile phones and bank accounts. Investigating authorities posed as prospective clients and lured the key accused into a trap, which led to the arrest of many others.
An FIR has been lodged at Sarojininagar police station in Pune and the police are further investigating the module. The apprehension of these cyber criminals is a significant breakthrough in curbing such fraudulent activities and safeguarding innocent civilians from falling prey to such fraudsters.
