Mangaluru cyber police bust inter-state online fraud

Mangaluru City Cyber Police have busted a gang running an inter-state online fraud racket that tried to dupe several hundred people in Karnataka by collecting deposits under the pretext of offering low-interest loans.

Yusuf Khan, a native of Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested in the case while two more accused, Naushad and Prabhakar, are absconding.

Addressing media persons at the Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate office on Friday, Commissioner Sandeep Patil said that the gang was operating from Janakpuri in New Delhi.

The gang has targeted around 300 people in Karnataka, including those from Mangaluru and Bengaluru. Out of these, around 50 were duped of a total amount of Rs 1,75,000.

Obtaining phone numbers from various service providers, the fraudsters called people on a random basis and offered loans at an interest rate of 5 per cent.

The accused would then obtain PAN and Aadhaar details from people and would ask them to pay EMI for four months in advance through an online transaction.

Based on a complaint submitted by a cheated person from Mangaluru, the cyber police conducted a week-long operation in New Delhi and raided the office set up by the fraudsters.

They seized cash amounting to Rs 70,000, 31 mobile phones and several notebooks containing information.

The accused had also created a fake certificate by forging the signature of National e-governance authorities, Sandeep Patil said.

An FIR has been registered and efforts are on to nab those who are on the run.