On Thursday, the Delhi police announced the arrest of two individuals, Abhay Verma (22) and Nishan Singh (30), on charges of defrauding over 50 people in the last six months across various locations, including Delhi and Hyderabad. The accused allegedly gained unauthorized access to victims’ credit card details.
The modus operandi involved the suspects illicitly entering their victims’ email accounts by exploiting the ‘forgot password’ option. Subsequently, they obtained sensitive information such as saved passwords and credit card details, facilitating the transfer of funds to accounts not directly linked to them.
The cyber police station in Northwest Delhi registered a case under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (cheating) in May. The complaint originated from a man who reported unauthorized debits totaling nearly Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 24,238 from his two credit cards, despite not having shared card details or OTPs with anyone.
Further investigation revealed that the debited amount had been credited to an account in Jalandhar, Punjab. The account holder, who claimed her nephew Sandeep had taken her SIM and ATM cards in good faith, stated that he had shared the account details with a friend in Delhi. Sandeep was subsequently questioned and disclosed his involvement.
Following raids at multiple locations in Delhi, the police arrested Nishan on August 17 from Chander Vihar and Abhay on August 23 from the Uttam Nagar bus stand. Usha Rangnani, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), stated that Abhay was responsible for acquiring confidential details under the guise of credit card offers, while Nishan handled the transfer of funds to unrelated bank accounts. The ill-gotten gains were allegedly split in a 70:30 ratio.
According to the police, Nishan would travel to identify bank accounts to hack, while Abhay, posing as a bank employee, traveled to various metros to collect customer information. Both suspects had previously worked at a call center for two years.
During the arrests, police recovered two mobile phones, five credit and debit cards, an ATM card, and several ID cards. Authorities are currently investigating whether the duo committed additional frauds and if they had any accomplices in their activities.