Fraudsters are finding creative ways to swindle money. In one such ‘creative’ stunt, criminals in Kolkata allegedly stole 7.43 lakhs from a man by using the phone number of the victim himself.
The fraudsters first approached the police and reported they had ‘lost’ a phone. A general diary entry – or an internal police record – was filed with the police station. The fraudsters used this general diary entry to apply for a duplicate SIM card linked to the ‘lost’ number.
Meanwhile, the victim had no idea that his number was reported as ‘lost’ in a general diary entry. The fraudsters then took control of the bank account linked to the phone number and swindled over seven lakhs from the victim’s account.
Kolkata Police Uncover the Crime
According to the Kolkata Police, the cyber wing traced the crime to a complaint that was logged at the Hare Street police station on February 22.
Devraj Dutta was the complainant and he had claimed that lakhs were stolen from his bank account. The police said they had arrested two main suspects – Biswajit Majumdar and Dipankar Ghoshal.
The accused were caught as they reportedly tried to use the stolen phone number to get debit cards delivered to their actual addresses.
Cops suspect that the two main accused may be part of a larger group actively involved in frauds of the same nature.
Modus Operandi of the Fraud
According to the cyber wing of Kolkata Police Headquarters, Lalbazar, people from different levels of society were being targeted by fraudsters by traps laid by them.
Sources say information is often gathered from places like the comments books placed in some stores or even the feedback forms that people fill out at various places.
Sensitive information such as phone numbers, home addresses and dates of birth could be used by criminals to get access to bank accounts and financial records, according to officials.
Another red flag to watch out for are roadside kiosks that sell cheap SIM cards with special discounts to lure people.
Probe officials have found that many people working at such kiosks or SIM card shops are involved in some way in the cyber fraud nexus.
Officials say when someone buys a SIM card, they will have to produce their Aadhaar information which is then sold to fraudsters. Using this Aadhaar information, criminals buy ‘pre-activated’ SIM cards and get unparalleled access to their victims.
Fraudsters’ Tricks
According to official sources, phone numbers are key to opening e-wallet accounts. By duping people and gaining access to their phone numbers, they can get access to the e-wallets of their victims without drawing too much attention. Because these numbers can’t be traced, they hide behind them.
It gets difficult for officials to trace the fraudsters all this while the victims continue to be in the dark about their phone numbers being misused.
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