The Chhattisgarh

Tag: Scammers

  • Noida’s Fake Call Center Scam: How Rs 2,500 Data Purchase Led To Multi-Crore Fraud |

    New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, the police have uncovered a multi-crore scam operated from a fake call center in Noida. The scammers purchased phone data online for just Rs 2,500 which they then used to defraud hundreds of individuals.

    The gang was operating from a call center on the fourth floor of a market in Sector 51. They were busted on Friday in a joint operation by the Crime Response Team (CRT) and local Sector 49 police officials, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shakti Mohan Avasthy reported.

    Main Suspects and Modus Operandi

    The primary suspects identified as Ashish and Jitendra. They hired nine women to work as call center executives. These women would call people and sell them fake loan and insurance policies. 

    The scammers started their fraudulent activities after working for SBI Life Insurance in 2019. They Purchased data of around 10,000 people from India Mart for just Rs 2,500 and began calling people across India pretending to offer loans and insurance, as disclosed by a police official.

    The gang enticed people from states outside the NCR with promises of high returns on loans and insurance policies. The women involved assisted Ashish and Jitendra on a commission basis. The women received their share in cash, a police spokesperson explained.

    They rented a PNB bank account from a person named Arvind in Karnataka for Rs 10,000 per month. The key suspects then used the ATM card associated with this account to withdraw the funds.

    Ashish kept a black diary to record all financial transactions and shared the profits with his associates based on their contributions, the police spokesperson said. The scheme had been operational for over a year, generating crores of rupees. All of this was recorded in the recovered diary.

    The accused used mobile phones with SIM cards obtained using fake Aadhaar cards which they purchased at higher prices from vendors. These SIM cards were used to hide their identities while targeting unsuspecting victims outside the Delhi NCR.

    The police named the main suspects as Ashish Kumar alias Amit and Jitendra Verma alias Abhishek. They also arrested nine women: Nisha alias Sneha, Reju alias Divya, Lovely Yadav alias Sweta, Poonam alias Pooja, Aarti Kumari alias Ananya, Kajal Kumari alias Surti, Sarita alias Suman, Babita Patel alias Mahi, and Garima Chauhan alias Sonia.

    An FIR has been filed in the case under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and the accused were sent to judicial custody after appearing before a local magistrate’s court.

  • Online Trading Scam: Mumbai Investor Falls Victim To Rs 2.56 Crore Online Share Trading Scam |

    New Delhi: Online trading scams are becoming more common in India these days. With so many scams happening, it’s important to be aware and stay cautious when trading online. These scams often target people looking to invest so staying informed can help protect you from falling victim.

    In a similar incident, a 60-year-old retired resident from Mumbai recently fell victim to a growing trading scam. The scammers tricked him into investing in a fake company with promises of big returns. Unfortunately, the victim ended up losing Rs 2.56 crore in an elaborate online share trading scam.

    Scammers Add Victim to WhatsApp Group

    The scam began when the victim received a message from an unknown number on WhatsApp. The scammers then added him to a WhatsApp group called “KK (Fortune Center)” in December 2023, as per TOI. (Also Read: Beware! Claiming False HRA While Filing ITR Could Cost You THIS Much: Check Here)

    Group Admins Pose as American Company Reps

    In this group, there were reportedly several administrators using aliases like Account Opening Manager, Chaman Singh, and Nita Singhania. They convinced the victim that they were representatives of a private American company involved in stock market investments. (Also Read: THESE Paytm Wallets To Be Closed From 20 July 2024 –Check Important Notice By Paytm Payments Bank)

    Falling for False Promises

    The scammers then gave the victim a link to a website where he was asked to enter his information and set up a virtual account. This virtual account seemed genuine and displayed promising investment returns. This led the victim to trust everything he saw and proceed ahead with the transaction, unaware of what was coming next.

    Initial Investment Leads Victim Deeper into Scam

    Guided by Singh and Singhania, in February the victim made his first investment of Rs 50,000 and saw a profit in his virtual account. As the victim watched his supposed profits grow he kept investing more money.

    The scammers went as far as sending fake shares certificates through social media to deceive the victim about the legitimacy of his investments. l media to further deceive him about the legitimacy of his investments. They also provided specific bank accounts where the victim transferred his money, thinking it was for investing in shares.//

    Scammers Demand More Funds Amid Stock Market Loss 

    However, things took a turn  when the group administrators claimed that their company had lost money in the stock market. They then asked the victim to invest an additional 20 per cent of his money to cover these losses.

    When the victim proposed deducting this amount from his shown profits and asked for a refund of his investment and earnings, the scammers declined. Afterward, the victim couldn’t reach other group members and his access to the virtual account was blocked. The scammer then understood that he had been deceived and approached the police. Eventually, the victim filed a complaint against the fraudsters.

  • MMDA Scam: Fraudsters Swindle Multinational MD Out Of Rs 4.8 Crore |

    New Delhi: Online scams have the potential to cause significant financial harm, often resulting in the loss of substantial amounts of money. Today’s news story highlights this issue, as a 67-year-old retired managing director of a multinational company in Thane has allegedly lost a staggering Rs 4.80 crore to an online fraud.

    The Thane crime branch uncovered that the scammers, pretending to be officials from central agencies, falsely accused the victim of drug trafficking and warned of police action. This pressure led the victim to share his secret bank details, which the scammers exploited to steal money. The situation was brought to attention when the Thane police’s cyber cell filed a report against three people. (Also Read: Vivo V29e Smartphone Gets Price Cut In India; Check Price, Discount and Specs)

    Fraudsters threatened with arrest warrants

    The victim got a call from the accused, who claimed they intercepted a package with illegal items like MDMA, passports, and credit cards bound for Taiwan, as per the complaint. To make it more convincing, the fraudsters had the victim’s personal details, including his Aadhaar card number. They also mentioned an alleged case against him at the Andheri police station in Mumbai, threatening him with arrest warrants and legal issues linked to money laundering and drug peddling. (Also Read: Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Sues Elon Musk, Billionaire Responds With Emoji)

    Information disclosed by victim

    Disguised as part of an investigation, the fraudsters told the victim to download a video calling app, promising that an officer would handle the issue. Pretending to be from central agencies with fake logos, they pressured the victim into giving out personal information like bank account details, debit card numbers, and CVV codes. Moreover, the victim disclosed information about property deals in Pune and Murbad.

    Victim understood that he has been tricked

    The following day, the scammers accused the victim of making illegal transactions and said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a private bank were suspicious of his actions. They then told him to transfer Rs 1 crore to his wife’s account, which he did. But after talking to his son who lives in the UK, the victim understood that he had been tricked.

    Case filed under the Indian Penal Code

    The investigation found out that a total of Rs 4.80 crore was taken from the victim’s account. After the victim filed a complaint, the police registered a case against the accused under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

  • Company Loses Rs 200 Crore In Deepfake Scam Via Fake ‘CFO’ Video Call |

    New Delhi: The prevalence of deepfakes on the internet often impersonating prominent figures for malicious intent has become increasingly alarming. A similar incident occurred in Hong Kong where scammers utilized deepfake technology to fabricate a video meeting, resulting in the astonishing theft of $25.6 million. This incident underscores the significant risks posed by deepfake technology and highlights the urgent need for measures to combat its misuse.

    As per a South China Morning Post report, a similar incident occurred with a Hong Kong-based company. Scammers utilized highly sophisticated deepfake technology to deceive the company’s local branch during a manipulated video conference call. Allegedly, the fraudsters digitally impersonated the company’s Chief Financial Officer to issue instructions for money transfers. (Also Read: Bumble Introduces AI-Driven Feature To Block Spam, Scams, And Fake Profiles; Check Details)

    According to the publication, all individuals participating in the video calls except for the victim were fake representations of actual people. “The scammers applied deepfake technology to turn publicly available video and other footage into convincing versions of the meeting’s participants,” the report said. (Also Read: Telegram Redesigns Voice And Video Calls In Its New Update; Check Out The Changes)

    According to the Hong Kong Police, this scam is unprecedented in Hong Kong’s history. “This time, in a multi-person video conference, it turns out that everyone you see is fake,” Baron Chan Shun-ching, the acting senior superintendent, was reported as saying.

    The officer further added “They used deepfake technology to imitate the voice of their targets reading from a script.” In total, 15 transfers were conducted totaling HK $25.6 million and were sent to multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong.

    This incident comes after several instances of celebrity deepfakes that have garnered attention online. Last year, there was an incident involving Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna where her face was superimposed onto a video of an online influencer. More recently, fake explicit videos purportedly featuring singer Taylor Swift have also circulated widely on the internet.