Seven people were arrested from Punjab and Jharkhand which brought into light a countrywide network of fraudsters who had cheated over a thousand people by posing as customer care representatives of banks. Although the call centre was being operated from Jamtara village, Jharkhand, the gang members were arrested from Punjab too. The gang came into the light after numerous people complained of losing money talking to bank representatives who offered to renew their cards or Aadhaar linking and in turn, took confidential bank details, according to Times of India report.
Dr A K Singala, Additional CP (crime) told Times Of India that a Cyberteam led by Bhisham Sing, DCP (crime), arrested Mohd Sakim, Mohd Abdul Rahim, Mohd Mumtaz Ansari and Jagganath Mandal from Jamtara. Their three associates Majer Singh, Varinder Singh and Abhishek Sharma were arrested from Punjab.
Here is how they worked:
-The modus operandi of the gang was they had stationed a team of trained call operators in Jamtara who posed as bank representatives.
-An investigation revealed that the money was transferred to e-wallets registered via phone numbers procured on fake identity cards.
-The mastermind according to the police is Jagganath Mandal.
-The gang was formed in 2015 after leaving his job in an ice-cream factory, Mandal told the police.
-The gang used to collect money in their e-wallets using SIMs which were obtained on fake IDs.
– The money would then be sent into the online wallets of their associates who resided in other parts of the country.
