Six Cyber Fraud Suspects Arrested in Deoghar for Posing as Fake Customer Care, Bank Officials

Deoghar police have arrested six suspected cyber fraudsters from the Patharadda OP area for allegedly impersonating customer care executives and bank officials to deceive victims and steal sensitive financial information.

Police seized 12 mobile phones and 13 SIM cards from the accused during the operation, which was carried out on August 21 under the leadership of Deputy Superintendent of Police Kailash Prasad Mahto on the directions of Superintendent of Police Praveen Pushkar.

According to police, the accused allegedly posed as customer care representatives of Flipkart and Amazon Pay, officials of Airtel Payment Bank and customer care executives of digital payment platforms such as Google Pay and PhonePe.

The suspects also allegedly used the PM-Kisan scheme to lure potential victims. Police said the accused would send APK files to victims under the pretext of providing benefits related to government schemes, electricity bills or RTO challans.

Once installed, these malicious files could provide the fraudsters with access to the victim's mobile device, potentially exposing sensitive information and enabling further financial fraud.

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Cashback offers used as bait

Police said the accused also impersonated Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm customer care representatives and allegedly offered fake cashback deals to gain the trust of victims.

In another method, the suspects allegedly posed as Airtel Payment Bank officials. They would reportedly tell customers that their cards had been blocked through the Airtel Thanks app and offer to help reactivate them. During the process, they allegedly attempted to obtain sensitive information that could then be used for fraudulent transactions.

The six arrested suspects have been identified as Sanjeet Kumar Das, Saroj Kumar Das and Nitesh Kumar Das, all residents of Chormara; Munna Kumar Das of Rangamatia under Patharadda OP; Shivnandan Kumar of Pipra; and Anwar Ansari of Ranga under Pathraol police station, all in Deoghar district.

Mobile numbers linked to cybercrime complaints

During the preliminary investigation, police found indications that the accused were involved in cyber fraud. Technical analysis of the seized mobile phones, SIM cards and other digital information reportedly revealed that cybercrime complaints had been registered in different states against some of the recovered mobile numbers and IMEI numbers.

Police said two of the arrested suspects, Sanjeet Kumar Das and Saroj Kumar Das, had also previously been named as accused in cybercrime cases.

Case No. 68/25 and Case No. 136/24 were registered against them at the Deoghar Cyber Police Station, according to police.

The operation involved Police Inspector Nagendra Prasad Sinha of Deoghar Cyber Police Station, Patharadda OP-in-charge Motiram Devgam and his team, as well as Pathraol police station-in-charge Dilip Kumar Bilung and his team.

The arrests highlight the increasingly sophisticated methods being used in cyber fraud, with criminals often exploiting people's familiarity with popular payment platforms, banks and government schemes. Police have advised people not to install APK files received from unknown sources or share banking credentials, OTPs, PINs or other sensitive information with callers claiming to be customer care representatives.