Assam News: The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested five youths from a remote village in Assam’s Morigaon district who duped global banking giant HSBC of ₹1.27 crore. The youths are all in the age group of 20 to 30 years and had obtained 55 credit cards from HSBC using digital fraud and identity fraud.
Cyber fraud scheme
According to the police, these accused first identified persons with high CIBIL scores. Using their details, they prepared fake PAN cards and other documents. After this, Aadhaar cards were obtained from a fake Aadhaar centre in Morigaon district using these documents. After this, credit cards were obtained from HSBC and other financial institutions on the basis of these fake identities.
Method of fraud
These accused rented temporary accommodation in Mumbai and after obtaining the credit cards, they soon disappeared from the city. They used the cards to shop, transfer money and empty the credit limit. The fraud took place between February and June 2024. According to police inspector Sadanand Yerekar, the accused committed these crimes in a planned manner, after which all contacts were broken.
Police investigation and arrests
The FIR in this case was first registered in 2023 at Azad Maidan Police Station, and later Unit 3 of the Crime Branch took over the investigation. The police used forensic banking analysis and mobile tracking to track down the accused. The accused were then arrested in collaboration with the Lahrighat police in Morigaon. The police believe that these accused may be part of a larger syndicate, which may be active in 15-20 villages of Morigaon district. Assam Police has arrested more than 200 people in the last four months for similar frauds.
Legal action against the accused
The five arrested accused have been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using forged document), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Sections 66(c) and 66(d) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 have also been invoked against the accused.
