11 Cyber Fraudsters Arrested for Posing as Customer Care Executives, One Juvenile Detained

Deoghar: In a major crackdown on cyber crime, Deoghar Police arrested 11 cyber fraudsters and detained a juvenile during raids conducted in Mohanpur and Pathrol OP areas of the district. The operation was carried out under the direction of Superintendent of Police Praveen Pushkar and led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Kailash Prasad Mahto.Police had received specific information that a group of cyber criminals was cheating people by posing as customer care representatives of Flipkart, Amazon Pay and PhonePe, besides impersonating credit card officials and Airtel Payments Bank executives. Acting on the tip-off, a special team conducted raids at various locations and apprehended a total of 12 accused, including the juvenile.

Complaints Registered in Several States

Preliminary examination of the seized mobile phones and SIM cards revealed their involvement in cyber fraud activities. Technical investigation has further found that mobile numbers and IMEI numbers recovered from the accused have been linked to cyber fraud complaints registered in several states across the country.
According to police, the accused used to impersonate Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm customer care executives and lure people with promises of cashback offers. They also sent APK files in the name of PM Kisan Yojana, electricity bill payments and RTO challans to gain remote access to victims' mobile phones and siphon off money from their accounts.The gang also posed as Airtel Payments Bank officials and misled customers by claiming that their cards had been blocked. They then duped victims on the pretext of reactivating the cards through the Airtel Thanks app. Fake credit card links were also used to trap unsuspecting people.The arrested accused have been identified as Ajit Das and Sikandar Das of Punasia, Bulu Das of Tilauna, Shivam Kumar of Asana, Gokhul Mandal, Chandra Kumar Mandal and Isak Ansari of Nagadari, Nawaz Ansari of Tatkajori, Mangan Mahra and Sandeep Mahra of Sirsa, and Pankaj Mahra of Ranga Sirsa. All are residents of Deoghar district.

Seizure During the Raid

Police seized 14 mobile phones, 14 SIM cards and two cloned SIM cards from the accused. The seized materials are being examined and investigators are trying to trace the entire network involved in the fraud.
The raiding team comprised Cyber Police Station inspectors Bisheshwar Kumar and Santosh Kumar Mandal, Assistant Sub-Inspector Rakesh Kumar Ranjan of Mohanpur Police Station, Assistant Sub-Inspector Amus Horo of Pathrol OP and armed police personnel.