BHOPAL: Newly opened bank accounts of jobless and daily wager youths in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh are being used by cyber fraudsters possibly to park money earned by duping individuals based in Bengaluru and other towns and cities of South India.
A distress call from a Bengaluru-based woman to cops in Bhind recently has brought to the fore an organized racket of online fraudsters, who are luring jobless or daily wagers between 20 and 25 years to open bank accounts in return for one time sums ranging between Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000.
Once opened, those paying money to these youths use the same accounts to park money possibly earned through online banking fraud in South India. “Just a week back, I received a call from a woman from Bengaluru who informed that someone duped her via online banking fraud and then transferred part of the money to an account in Bhind,” said Devesh Sharma, the sub-inspector in-charge of Bhind district police’s cyber cell on Wednesday.
The subsequent probe not only led to the bank account in which the money was parked but also to over 25 such accounts in six to seven public sector banks in Bhind.
After questioning youngsters who had opened bank accounts in the last four-five months, it has been revealed that unidentified men approached them and then made them open bank accounts before paying one-time sums. “Each of the 10-15 people were also given new SIM cards which were then registered with the bank. Once the accounts were opened, the youths handed over their debit cards, passbook as well as the SIM card,” said Sharma.