Don't Rent Your Bank Account! Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Warn Students And Youth As Cyber Fraud Cases Rise
· Free Press Journal
Pimpri-Chinchwad: The trend of targeting students and ordinary citizens on social media and using their bank accounts for cybercrimes by luring them with small amounts of money is increasing rapidly. In the greed of earning good money from home without working hard, many people are handing over their bank accounts to cybercriminals and inadvertently becoming accomplices in their crimes.
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The money defrauded from people is being transferred to foreign countries or other bank accounts through such 'mule accounts'. In these cases of cyber fraud, such account holders are now being directly accused. Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Police has registered cases against five such different mule bank account holders. To expose this gang and break the links of financial fraud, the police have started a special campaign named 'Operation Mule Hunt'.
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A mule account is a bank account used by cybercriminals to receive fraudulently obtained funds, transfer them to another account, or withdraw them as cash. Currently, large-scale cyber fraud is taking place in the name of stock market investment, digital accounts, and part-time jobs. Criminals never use their personal bank accounts.
They lure youth, students, and low-income people with commissions through Telegram, WhatsApp, and social media. After this, they buy their active bank accounts, internet banking passwords, ATM cards, and linked SIM cards. In many cases, current accounts are even opened by creating fake companies using citizens' documents so that transactions worth crores of rupees can be carried out easily.
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While analysing data obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs' National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Samvay Portal, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police investigated 5 suspicious mule accounts in the city and registered cases. Information came to light that the account of the firm named Genius Enterprises was provided to be used as a mule account.
The cyber police registered a case against Pradeep Ashok Rathod of Chinchwad and initiated further action. It was revealed that a suspicious amount of Rs 93.62 lakh was deposited in this account registered in Ashok's name within just 11 days. There are 13 complaints registered across the country against this account.
A suspicious transaction of Rs 54.62 lakh was found in the bank account created under the name of Abhijeet Developer belonging to Abhijeet Vikas Chavan (26) of Dehu Road. There are two complaints registered against it. An amount of Rs 16.97 lakh was deposited in the account created under the name 'Salve Developer' belonging to Sagar Ramesh Salve (31) of Pimpri. There are 7 complaints registered against this account.
A suspicious transaction of Rs 34.37 took place in the account of Chinchwad resident Rahul Rathod (28). There are 7 cyber complaints registered against this as well. A suspicious transaction of Rs 23.23 lakh was found in the account registered in the name of Prem Lokhande (19), a resident of Thergaon, against which complaints are registered from Gujarat and Delhi. In these five cases, fraud worth Rs 2.22 crore has been committed.
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The main objective of this special campaign being run by the police is to identify fake accounts and to arrest the account holders as well as the main agents and masterminds running this racket. Apart from this, immediately freezing suspicious accounts, tracing the flow of money, and establishing better coordination with banks are the main purposes of this campaign.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) said, "Cybercriminals obtain bank accounts of citizens by duping them with pretexts such as handling company money, gaming funds, or GST refunds or getting loans by increasing their CIBIL score. Citizens should not give their bank account, ATM, or net banking to any other person for use under any temptation. If your account is used in a crime, you too will be made an accused."