Delhi Police CyPad bust Jamtara cyber criminals in 'Operation Cyber Prahar'

New Delhi, September 1

The Cyber Crime Unit (CyPAD) of Delhi Police arrested 14 cyber criminals of Deoghar-Jamtara-Giridh-Jamui belt after conducting multiple raids over the last seven days. 

The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal had witnessed several complaints of fraud against unscrupulous elements. These complaints revealed multiplicity of modus operandi-

Impersonating as bank employees, inducing unsuspecting people to download remote access apps, creating fake websites of popular e-commerce platforms and making them visible to potential victims using Google ads and search engine optimization, inducing them to download malware disguised as banking apps, impersonating as govt. officials managing welfare schemes, and fraudulently inducing victims to make UPI transaction in the belief of getting welfare benefits.

The CyPad added that most of these complaints revealed a loss of several lakhs of complainant’s money. One of those complainants was a doctor working at a renowned hospital of Delhi. While looking online for the customer care number of IDFC Bank, she came across the fake website created by these cyber criminals and they managed to induce her to install a remote access App, and subsequently transferred Rs. 10 lakhs out of her account fraudulently. Due to prompt action, Rs. eight lakhs of defrauded money was blocked and returned to her immediately, however, she suffered a loss of Rs. two lakhs. The CyPad had registered a FIR and took up the investigation along with several other such complaints. 

DCP (CyPad) Anyesh Roy stated that an analysis of the available data revealed that these scams were being run at a large scale from the aforementioned region.  From the analysis, two persons were identified as the brains behind this particular module. They were identified as one Ghulam Ansari, a native of Brijpur, District Jamtara, Jharkhand and one Altaf Ansari, a native of Kapsa, District Deoghar, Jharkhand. 

The officials added that it was further revealed that Ghulam Ansari, along with his associates had come to Loni, Ghaziabad and were camping together at a location, which was probably another associate’s place. 

The cyber cops conducted raid in Loni, upon which Ghulam Ansari, who was sleeping on the terrace jumped from the second floor on to the roof of the neighbouring building’s and tried to flee. However, the police team nabbed him before he could get away. Subsequently, his other associates were also arrested and all the connected devices were recovered and seized. 

Meanwhile, a cyber team that was already stationed at Jamtara for conducting a reconnaissance operation to trace other accused persons- Altaf Ansari. Altaf who was alerted by Ghulam’s arrest and planned to flee away to some other place. However, the CyPAD team trailed and caught him after a high-speed chase. Altaf tried to get away in his newly purchased Scorpio car and the team of CyPAD chased him. After a long cat and mouse chase for more than 100 kms across three districts of Jharkhand,  he was held.

Surprisingly, there was another module operating from the Jamui region of the Jamtara belt. This module was using an improvised modus operandi to con people. 

They contacted Anganwadi workers of the area after obtaining their details online and after pretending to be health officials and took details of pregnant and lactating women from them. 

They contacted these women and told them that they will be receiving a link for the receipt of Rs. 5,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. However, instead of crediting, large sums of money got debited from their accounts on clicking on the link.

These accused used to call unsuspecting people from a place outside the village that was surrounded by a dense forest on three sides and a rivulet on the fourth, thus providing them ample scope to run away in case any attempt is made by law enforcement agencies to catch them.

The cyber cops carried out a daring operation to arrest these accused. While some of them surrounded the forest area one Sub Inspector stood in the middle of the rivulet to nullify their attempts to flee, four were held from there. 

The officials said that Ghulam Ansari, a school drop-out, used to work as a construction worker in Hyderabad, installing glass panes on windows. Almost two years back, he returned to his native village and got in touch with unscrupulous elements already engaged in cyber-crime. From them, he learnt the tricks of the trade and in a short-time, acquired such skill of designing fake websites and running online campaigns through Google Ads and Search Engine Optimization, that he quickly came to be recognized as ‘Masterji’ in a belief that he is the ‘best in the business’ and whoever he chooses to be his ‘disciple’ would become one of the richest in the entire region. This is borne testimony to by the affluence of his one-time disciple and now a full-fledged partner in crime, Altaf Ansari, popularly referred to as the ‘Rockstar’ of cyber-crime in the region.  

Altaf, a first year B.A. student, is believed to be so skilled at conning people, that he is frequently approached by ‘aspiring cyber-criminals’ from the entire region for ‘coaching lessons.’ In less than two years, Altaf alone has managed to dupe people from across the country of around Rs. 10 Crores. From this cheated money, he has built a huge mansion in his native village, has another bungalow under construction and has purchased a brand-new Scorpio Car, which has now been seized. The expertise of Altaf as a con-caller is such that he has acquired the nickname ‘Rockstar’.     

Altaf told police that he used to pay Rs. 40,000-50,000 per day to Ghulam Ansari just to run Google Ad campaigns. The accused made use of Survey Applications like Survey Monkey to customize it and collect the banking details of the victims. When anyone expressed apprehension about filling their bank account details and/or card details in the survey form, the accused would assure them by stating that they are filling the details in their own mobile phone and this is, in no way, accessible to anyone else. In this way, they would gain access to all of victim’s banking details through cloud syncing.

Most recently, the accused had started using the App ‘Bikayi’ available on Google Play Store for genuine businesses. Using this App, they would create fake URLs of e-commerce platforms which would then be pushed online using Google Ads. Anyone looking for a customer care number of these popular e-commerce platforms, is bound to stumble across these fake numbers of the accused and is then conned by either inducing to share the account details or by installing a remote access App which is used to take over complete control of their device.

The accused mostly made calls to potential victims in a group so that in case the victim expresses their desire to talk to a senior official or the manager, one of them, usually Altaf, can pretend to be the same and gain trust of the victim, thus making their task easier. Over the last two years or so, the accused have been receiving/making calls to 40-50 persons per day of which 3-4 fall prey to their ruse every day. They have been working in a large group from secret hideouts outside the villages. The locations from which these calls to victims are made, are deliberately chosen in such a way that they can keep an eye on any movements around. In case any attempt is made to apprehend them, they quickly get rid of their devices in the nearby forests, swamps, rivers, etc. and disappear in the jungle.

Around 30 digital devices linked to the offence have been recovered from the possession of the accused and seized. Two vehicles, one Scorpio Car and one Kwid car, used in the offence and purchased from cheated money, have also been seized. 

36 complaints linked to the accused have been identified from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal from victims of various states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana and Delhi. The cheated amounts in these complaints range from a few thousand rupees to a maximum of Rs. 12 lakhs. 

Jamtara Cyber Cheats Gang

Ghulam Ansari alias Masterji from Jamtara, Jharkhand Aged 24 Years – The technical expert. He designed the fake websites of Banks and e-commerce sites and ran Google Ads campaign to lure potential victims.

Altaf Ansari alias Rockstar from Deoghar, Jharkhand – The Leader of the gang. He coordinated activities between the Ad campaign experts, the callers, the beneficiary account providers, etc. He deployed spotters at vantage points to fore-warn against any approaching police team.

Sarfuddin Mohammad from Giridih, Jharkhand  – He has a network of agents who procure Bank Accounts at Rs.10-15,000, which are then used to get defrauded money. He also took the money out from ATM Machines.

Sainul Ansari from Giridih, Jharkhand – A specialist Caller. He took calls impersonating as Bank official or Customer Care Executive, and induced people to download Remote Access Apps, through which their net-banking accounts were compromised.

Ghulam Mustafa, Aftab Alam, Azad Miyan, Sohail Ansari and Furkan Ansari who were specialized callers. 

The Anganwadi Fraud Gang of Bihar

Ashok Verma from Jamui, Bihar- Obtained data of Aanganwadi Scheme beneficiaries and called them impersonating as Govt./Bank officials. Tricked them into making a fraudulent payment. 

Sanjay Verma from Jamui, Bihar – Called Scheme beneficiaries and impersonating as Govt./Bank officials

Abhishek Verma from Jamui, Bihar - Called Scheme beneficiaries and impersonating as Govt./Bank officials

Raju Sharma from Jamui, Bihar- Called Scheme beneficiaries and impersonating as government and bank officials

Safety Advisory to Citizens:

Always treat unsolicited callers/emails/SMSes with suspicion.

Never share credit/debit card details with anyone claiming to be bank official or customer care executive.

Never enter card details in online form sent by the caller. Your credentials might be stolen.

Do not download remote access Apps as fraudster will get access to all your messages and emails.

Never click on links in Phishing messages/emails appearing to come from government organizations, officials, banks, etc. They install malware/ spyware on your device.

Never enter your UPI PIN for receiving money from a QR Code or Payment Link

Be cautious while scanning a QR code sent for receiving payment. You will end up losing money from your account.

Be careful of fake customer care numbers appearing in web search. 

Use two-factor authentication (Password + OTP) for all online accounts.