Synthetic bank accounts kits lead to cyber fraud racket; 15 held

A consignment of synthetic bank kits intercepted in the New Ashok Nagar in East Delhi, led the cops to unearth a major sexortion and cyber fraud nexus spanning over the national capital, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Fifteen suspects have been arrested and money trail of over Rs 5 crore has been identified.

Advertisement

Synthetic bank account kit is a type of Synthetic identity fraud (SIF) which uses a combination of personally identifiable information (PII) to fabricate a person or entity in order to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial gain.

The network operated through multiple verticals; including fake loan call centres and a meticulously orchestrated sextortion racket comprising social media profile analysts, extortion callers, and individuals impersonating police officers to intimidate victims with false legal threats unless they complied with extortion demands, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam.

The action came after based on credible intelligence on May 24; the movement of a consignment suspected to contain synthetic bank account kits in the New Ashok Nagar was intercepted.

The cop added that it was learnt that the kits were to be delivered and distributed near the vicinity of Mayur Vihar Phase-1 Extension and a team was formed which arrested three individuals identified as Ujjawal Pandey, Gaurav Barua and Yug Sharma, all resident of Delhi who were in possession of the consignment.

Gautam mentioned that the kits included Pre-activated SIM cards, Forged bank documents, Debit, credit cards linked to dummy or fraudulent accounts and mobile devices for real-time transaction control.

These items collectively formed what is termed a synthetic financial identity, allowing cybercriminals to operate untraceable, modular shadow banking systems, he said.

During the course of an investigation by the Cyber Cell, a raid was conducted at the instance of the accused persons, leading to the unearthing and dismantling of an illegal call center involved in fraudulent bank loan schemes in the Mundka area of Delhi, Gautam said.

Moreover, subsequent raids based on inputs from arrested individuals, led to another significant raid conducted in the New Ashok Nagar in which four more accused were apprehended, resulting in the exposure and busting of an organized sextortion racket, the official said.

The DCP further mentioned that these individuals employed a deceitful method to lure and exploit victims by initially sending friend requests on Facebook and obtaining the victim’s mobile number through Facebook Messenger.

Subsequently, they would initiate a video call on WhatsApp, during which they would stream pornographic clips, secretly recording the victim’s screen and reactions using screen recording tools. The recorded content was then used to blackmail the victim under threats of publicly circulating the video on social media platforms, thereby coercing them into transferring money, he added.