Interstate Gang Busted for Mobile Phone Theft and Online Scams Exposed

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Interstate Gang Dismantled for Mobile Phone Theft and Online Banking Fraud

A coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies has led to the arrest of four individuals from an interstate gang involved in mobile phone theft and cyber-enabled banking fraud.

Modus Operandi

The gang’s modus operandi involved targeting crowded public areas to steal mobile phones from unsuspecting victims. Once in possession of the devices, they would remove the SIM cards and insert them into other phones to obtain one-time passwords (OTPs) for financial fraud. These OTPs were then used to port the mobile numbers and access banking applications linked to the stolen phones. After completing the SIM porting process, the gang would activate the victim’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) account through OTP authentication and transfer funds from the linked bank accounts.

Arrest and Investigation

Acting on technical surveillance inputs, a joint operation by the cyber and crime branch teams led to the arrest of the four accused near the Bareilly railway junction.

The recovered mobile phones are currently being examined to identify their original owners.

Accused and Ongoing Investigation

The arrested individuals have been identified as Sagar Kumar, Sumit Kumar, Aakash Nunaiya, and Rishi Kumar, all from Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The investigation is ongoing to uncover the larger cybercrime network associated with the gang, and efforts are being made to trace the owners of the recovered mobile phones and gather evidence related to previous theft cases.

According to senior officers, the gang was involved in both mobile theft and supplying stolen devices to cyber fraudsters.

The arrested suspects are currently being interrogated to identify other members of the network and determine the extent of their criminal activities.