Man employed 5 women to help him in card fraud

GURGAON POLICE have busted an online credit card fraud racket by arresting six people, including five women, who withdrew money from the bank accounts of more than 100 people. According to police, the accused worked at a call centre. They would impersonate bank officials and call people in order to get their account details.

The six were arrested during investigations into a case registered at the Gurgaon City police station on February 22. The complainant, Pankaj Kumar, had alleged that Rs 45,000 had been withdrawn from his SBI account by an unknown person.

“He claimed he had received phone calls from different numbers asking for his account details, which needed to be updated. After he gave these details, he said he received a message about the money being withdrawn,” Sumit Kumar, DCP (crime), said.

Kumar said the Cyber Crime branch, which was investigating the case, received a tip-off and arrested Amit Kumar, who was involved in a similar crime in Pune as well. He has served time in prison in connection with the same.

“During questioning, the accused revealed that he works in a call centre in Delhi. He employed five women to make the calls and collect information, which they passed on to him,” Kumar said.

The women, identified as Neha, Kamla, Mamta, Pooja, and Poonam, all aged between 21 and 23 years, were arrested on Thursday from the office on Dwarka Mod.

Police said the accused have also revealed the names of two others involved in the crime, who will be nabbed soon. “The two men who are absconding were the ones who provided the women with phone numbers of people and the corresponding banks where they had accounts... There is something lacking in the security of banks, because such cases are becoming increasingly common in Gurgaon as well as other cities,” said DCP Kumar.

While the women have been produced before the court and sent to judicial custody, Amit Kumar has been sent to three-day police remand.