Delhi Police bust hacker gang after retired DRDO scientist duped of Rs 40 lakh

New Delhi: The Delhi Police, probing a case in which a DRDO scientist was duped of Rs 40 lakh, has busted a gang involved in hacking bank accounts, an official said on Friday.

Police have arrested four members of the syndicate.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary said, "The accused would pose as customer care representatives and contact unsuspecting victims, convincing them to install a malware packaged as an Android Package Kit (APK) file under the guise of resolving issues. Once installed, the file granted remote access to the victim's device, allowing the fraudsters to steal sensitive financial details, including banking credentials, PAN (permanent account number) card details, and CVV (card verification value) codes. Using this method, they siphoned off lakhs from the victims' bank accounts."

The investigation was launched after a scientist, who retired from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), reported that Rs 40 lakh was siphoned off by fraudsters from his savings and fixed deposits.

DCP Choudhary said, "The victim had searched online for customer support number and called a fraudulent contact. He was then sent a malware via social media, which he installed, unwittingly granting access to his bank account. Over seven days, the accused systematically transferred funds from his account. Following his complaint, an FIR was registered, and a team of cyber police officers initiated a thorough probe," he said.

Police traced the operation to Deoghar in Jharkhand and Mewat in Rajasthan. Technical surveillance revealed key details about the fraudsters' operations, including their use of rotating SIM cards and frequent device changes to evade detection.

They said based on geo-location tracking and intelligence inputs, police conducted raids and arrested four people -- identified as Iqbal Ansari, Sajid Khan, Salman Khan and Narendra Kumar.

Iqbal Ansari allegedly managed fraudulent ads for fake customer support numbers, handled calls, and sent malwares. Sajid Khan and Salman Khan were responsible for recruiting job seekers under false pretexts to open bank accounts the gang would use for money-laundering. Narendra Kumar was identified as the person responsible for withdrawing defrauded funds via ATMs, the DCP added.

Police recovered five smartphones containing incriminating data, including excel sheets with financial details of victims. Investigation has revealed that the syndicate had targeted victims across India using similar tactics, the DCP said.