Mumbai crime branch busts international gang selling bank accounts to cyber fraudsters
The arrests are seen as a significant blow to cybercrime syndicates operating from Thailand, China, Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
Acting on specific intelligence, Unit 2 of the crime branch on Tuesday raided an office located right outside Kandivli (East) police station and arrested five suspects. They were identified as Vaibhav Patil, Sunil Paswan, Aman Gautam, Khusboo Sundarjulia, and Ritesh Bandekar.
During the raid, police seized 50 passbooks of various banks, ATM cards, swiping machines, two laptops, and dozens of SIM cards.
Investigators were surprised to find that most of the seized bank accounts were opened in the names of slum dwellers but were being operated by others. Police will also check whether the bank officials followed the protocol in verifying the KYC of the account holders.
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"We received a tip-off that certain individuals were running an office to rent and sell bank accounts and SIM cards to unknown persons, which is illegal.
A dummy customer was sent to verify the tip-off, and once confirmed, the raid was conducted," a source said.
Initial investigation revealed that the gang targeted poor residents in slum pockets, luring them into opening bank accounts with promises of lucrative incentives. In one case, a daily wage worker from Dahisar was paid Rs 10,000 to open an account using his KYC documents. The gang then linked the account to their mobile number for OTP authentication, allowing them to use it for large transactions without the account holder's knowledge.
Police found evidence of massive transactions through these accounts and are now analysing the data to trace the key masterminds behind the racket. Sources said the suspects provided account details to cybercriminals abroad, who used them to execute fraudulent schemes such as "digital arrest" scams and online gaming frauds.
Investigators believe more arrests are likely as the probe progresses. "We have just taken them into custody and are analysing the transaction records and SIM card usage. We are also trying to determine whether the account holders were aware of the misuse or were completely duped," the source added.
Police suspect the network's reach extends far beyond Mumbai, with potential links to multiple cyber fraud operations overseas.
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