Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested kingpin of an organised gang, along with five other members, involved in defrauding people in the city. The gang duped individuals through fake call centres, through a website run by foreign hackers and cyber fraudsters who create online gambling games.
Those arrested were identified as Dheeraj Kumar Singh of Vijaynagar, Neelmatha, Lucknow; Tarun Purushottam Gavari of Indiranagar, Lucknow and Abhishek, Sarvjeet Singh, Rashid Khan and Aman Yadav of Barabanki.
Police recovered five fake and forged Aadhaar cards, four pre-activated SIM cards, 58 SIM cards, three cheque books of accounts in various corporate banks, two debit cards, six mobile phones, one four-wheeler and one two-wheeler from the accused who were arrested at Safedabad crossing, in Barabanki district. Police said they had worked on the case and raided the location on a tip-off.
UP STF DSP D K Shahi said the gang cheated unsuspecting persons by calling them from dubious call centres and and defrauded people using website operated by foreign hackers and cyber fraudsters who create online gambling games. They utilised other people’s bank accounts to hoard the ill-gotten money and paid them 5% of the transaction amount in return.
“Under arrest, Dheeraj, Tarun, and Sarvjeet told police they used corporate bank accounts of Rashid, Aman, and Abhishek in various banks, along with their cheque books, debit cards and SIM cards and paid them 5% of the transaction amount as commission,” said police.
The fraudsters were connected to the bank account-holders through Telegram messaging site for the past one year and were transfering crores of rupees made illegally in online gaming. After operating for two to three days, these accounts would get frozen by the banks. The accused also purchased blank and activated SIM cards and cloned them to commit fraud. “They admitted to using fake Aadhar cards for purchasing SIM cards and booking hotel rooms,” said police.
The police said they traced chats regarding transactions using numerous bank accounts and photographs of the accounts on Telegram and WhatsApp and added that the 58 SIM cards recovered were provided to them by a person named Daksh, resident of the Irrigation Department colony in Barabanki.

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