Haridwar: On Monday, Uttarakhand’s police special task force (STF) arrested a man from Mangalore police station area of Haridwar district who is allegedly a mastermind behind fake SIM cards racket in the state.
According to the police, the accused has so far activated more than 20,000 SIM cards and supplied them fraudulently to cyber thugs in many states of India as well as abroad to South Asian countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Acquired 20,000 Sim cards by misusing Aadhar cards and biometric impressions of the people
As per the information provided by police in a press meet held on Monday, this accused mastermind used to go door to door at Mangalore in Haridwar and lure women for free gifts or a fake government scheme in exchange of their Aadhar cards and biometric details. Later, he used to sell these details to cyber criminals in south Asian countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, and several states in India. For each OTP, the accused used to get an amount ranging from Rs 3 to Rs 50. Police also recovered 1,816 SIM cards, five mobile phones and two biometric devices from his possession.
These SIM cards were being used for trapping people
Through WhatsApp OTP groups operated from China and Cambodia, other cyber criminals sitting in far-off countries were activating WhatsApp and other applications on these Indian SIM cards and making WhatsApp calls or trapping people on Instagram and committing cyber fraud across India by luring them in the name of trading and investment. According to the police, the suspect had used over 20,000 SIM cards this way.
A cyber-crime in Dehradun gave a lead to the police
In this press meet, Nilesh Anand Bharne, Inspector general of Police (Law and Order) said that they had received a complaint from a victim in Dehradun in the month of April this year, in which he was duped by a cyber-criminal under the pretext of providing him high returns on investment done on a particular website.
Police traced the activities back to the accused during investigation
During the investigation of a case registered at Nehru Colony police station in Dehradun, the police traced the activities back to an individual named Sohil. According to a statement from the Uttarakhand police, a detailed data analysis revealed that the mastermind had tricked women into providing their Aadhaar cards, photos, and thumbprints by falsely promising them a set of mugs under a fake government scheme. This deception led to the issuance of SIM cards in their names.
Scammers used WhatsApp calls and Instagram scams to trap innocent individuals
The statement further explained that thousands of SIM cards were fraudulently linked to other women’s IDs. The One-Time Passwords (OTPs) from these SIM cards were sold to scammers in WhatsApp groups based in China and Cambodia. These scammers then used WhatsApp calls and Instagram scams to trap innocent individuals. The investigation is still ongoing, with authorities looking into various other aspects of this complex fraud scheme.
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