NEW DELHI: Last month, an Army Colonel complained to the police of being duped of Rs 3.39 lakh when he clicked on an unknown link he had received through a message.
“The complainant, considering the link from Axis Bank, opened it, which took him to a login page resembling the web page of Axis Bank. Ultimately, he was cheated of Rs 3,39,011,” DCP (southwest) Rohit Meena said.
What made the case unique was that the accused decided to bypass the traditional banking channel. They did not use the Colonel’s duped money by transferring it into some bank account; rather, they withdrew the cash at petrol pumps using Drive Track Plus (DTP) cards.
A DTP is a fuel filling prepaid card mostly used by long route truck drivers, which makes the fleet management easy and convenient for the drivers.
The DCP said an Indian Army Colonel lodged a complaint on July 11 stating that he was duped by clicking a link sent to his phone.
The cops analysed the money trail and found that the cheated amount had been transferred to a DTP Card. The DTP card was registered in the name of Sakil Khan, an innocent man unaware that a prepaid card had been issued in his name, which is being misused by cyber fraudsters.
When cops enquired from the DTP company, they learned that Sakil’s ID had been accessed at Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Birbhum in West Bengal on different dates in June and July 2024.
The cops zeroed in on one accused, Sanjay Kumbhkar, who disclosed that co-accused Sachin Pathak works as a Regional Business Executive (RBE) in Drive Track Plus, a company that makes prepaid fuel cards.
The accused, Pathak, fraudulently used Sakil’s credentials to get a new DTP card issued in his name. He then used this card to collect duped money.
“Pathak, in connivance with others accused—Kanta Prasad Carpenter and Mukesh Dangi—had registered several DTP cards of innocent persons and linked fake mail IDs and mobile numbers with the cards,” the DCP said.
During the interrogation, one Santosh Kumar’s name surfaced, who allegedly transferred the cheated amount in the DTP cards in connivance with petrol pump owners, who used to collect cash from petrol pumps and deposit it in the account.
Further probe revealed that it was Kumar and his close-aide Arun Kumar Mandal, who decided to cheat the people through the DTP cards. The accused were operating their syndicate from the Tarapit district of Birbhum in West Bengal and Dhanbad in Jharkhand.
MODUS OPERANDI
Victims details collected from Telegram groups
Phishing link sent to victims through text messages.
DTP card issued using another unknow person’s name, mobile
Duped amount transferred into DTP cards
Money withdrawn from various petrol pumps through DTP card
Gang’s key member operated from Tarapit district of West Bengal
* DTP is a fuel filling prepaid card mostly used by long route truck drivers