Cyber fraud syndicate busted in Delhi; 5 held for duping people by posing as bank officials

The Delhi Police has busted a syndicate for allegedly cheating people by posing as bank employees and offering credit card rewards, officials said on Tuesday. Five people have been arrested in the case.

The syndicate came to light when a resident of Palam Colony lodged a complaint on June 20, stating that he was cheated of Rs 96,000 after receiving a call from a person claiming to be from a private bank.

According to the police, the gang impersonated bank employees and contacted victims under the pretext of redeeming credit card reward points.

The caller informed the complainant of partial details of his credit card and convinced him to share OTPs in the name of reward point redemption. The money was then fraudulently transferred through a mobile application into the accused’s bank account, a police officer said.

“They would collect the credit card details and OTP from unsuspecting victims and transfer the defrauded money through mule bank accounts,” the officer said.

“A case was registered and an investigation was taken up. It was found that the defrauded amount was settled in a bank account and later diverted to another bank before being withdrawn. CCTV footage from ATMs showed one accused withdrawing cash with his face covered,” the officer added.

Following a raid at a location in Mohan Garden, police arrested three of the accused — Atul Kumar, Sunny Kumar Singh and Kaushal Kumar. A search of the premises led to the recovery of multiple bank account kits, stamps of different firms, mobile phones and other digital gadgets.

“During interrogation, it was revealed that Kaushal Kumar, a former private bank employee, was responsible for opening multiple mule accounts. He had taken a rented premises in Mohan Garden, where he facilitated the creation of current and savings accounts. These accounts were then provided to cyber criminals through a woman who was also later arrested,” he added.

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Sunny Kumar Singh, a final-year CA student, helped create GST and Udyam certificates as well as email IDs for opening accounts. Atul Kumar, in whose name the firm was registered, held three bank accounts used in the fraud.

The fifth accused, Md Ahmad, who previously worked in call centres, was identified as the key caller impersonating bank officials. He had been absconding and was wanted in another cyber fraud case registered earlier this year. Ahmad was arrested based on the inputs provided during interrogation.

“All accused, Md Ahmad, Kaushal Kumar, Atul Kumar, Sunny Kumar Singh, and the woman, have been arrested and further investigation is underway,” said the officer.