HYDERABAD: Uncovering a novel form of cyber fraud, Cyberabad police arrested six persons who cheated several banks by availing loans after producing forged documents of techies who died in different accidents. Fake papers of a techie, who drowned in the Godavari boat mishap in September, 2019, were also used. The accused cheated banks to the tune of Rs 59 lakh using fake documents of four software professionals who died in 2019.
Cyberabad Police commissioner VC Sajjanar said the criminals sourced the personal details of the techies from the Internet, mainly social media platforms. Using these, they created fake documents, obtained duplicate SIM cards and accessed bank accounts.
“They even withdrew money from the techies’ accounts in similar fashion. Four of the six accused have a criminal history,” Sajjanar said, adding that they cheated HDFC, ICICI, SBI, RBL, Kotak Mahindra banks and also Bajaj Finserv.
Police found that the kingpin of the gang, Nimmagadda Phani Chowdary, along with Mandava Swaroop Nath Chowdary conceived the idea and shared it with Pedavalli Srinivasa Rao, Kandru Harish, Narne Venu Gopal and Ikkruthi Veera Shekhar Rao. Phani and Swaroop sourced information about the techies who died accidentally and obtained their personal details like mobile number and employer’s names from social media platforms.
Using forged ID proofs with names of the techies and pictures, Venu Gopal and Shekar Rao obtained duplicate SIM cards with numbers used by the dead techies. They also approached banks and collected bank account numbers and customer IDs saying that they wanted to deposit money in the accounts of the techies.
Using these details, they used the forgot password option in the net banking portal and accessed the accounts. They also found the other bank accounts, loans, credit cards used by the victims in this manner. The balance left in the accounts would first be transferred into fake accounts created by Venu Gopal and Shekar Rao and then withdrawn from ATMs.
By accessing the accounts through net banking, they raised requests for instant pre-approved loans and credit cards. They transferred the loan sums and balance amount from the victims’ accounts to fake bank accounts and withdrew the money.
They also transferred amounts from the credit cards to other accounts at cash points. Police found that through net banking, they had raised requests for debit cards and collected them from courier offices, before they were delivered to the victims’ residences. The racket came to light after HDFC Bank noticed a credit card was misused to the tune of `2,76 lakh, which was in the name of a account holder who was dead.
THE PAPER TRAIL
One among the 4 victims includes a techie who died in the September, 2019 boat mishap in the Godavari
HDFC, ICICI, SBI, RBL, Kotak Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were cheated to the tune of `59 lakh in just one month