Police in Gurugram have arrested three people for helping an online fraud gang open a bank account. The arrested persons include an Axis Bank sales manager and a sales executive. The bank account was opened for ₹30,000, and later the account was sold to fraudsters for ₹8 lakh. This incident has highlighted the deep roots of cybercrime.
This is not the only case. Earlier, also several Bank staff have been arrested for opening fake accounts through which crores of rupees were routed.
About ₹50 lakh was transferred through this account. The fraud gang cheated people by asking them to invest in USDT trading through fake websites and apps. They promised high profits to trap victims.
The arrested accused are Pintu Kumar (30), Rohit (30), and Umang Gupta (26). Pintu is a resident of village Pachcho in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. Rohit, an MBA, lives in Awas Vikas Colony, Hathras. Umang Gupta lives in Dharam Kunj, Hathras.
A victim had filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on January 15. The fraud was carried out through WhatsApp groups and fake mobile apps related to USDT trading.
Police officer Naveen Kumar said that during interrogation, it was found that ₹50 lakh of the cheated money was transferred to a firm named Dinesh Enterprises. This firm was registered in the name of accused Dinesh Kumar. The bank account of the firm was opened after taking ₹30,000 from Pintu and Ankul.
Later, Pintu and Ankul sold this bank account to another person for ₹8 lakh. With the help of Dinesh, they opened the account using the support of Axis Bank employees Umang Gupta and Rohit.
Umang told police that he has been working as a sales executive at the Hathras branch of Axis Bank for three years. Rohit has been working as a sales manager at the same branch for six years.
Police said the accused opened a fake bank account in the name of Dinesh. For this, Umang received ₹1 lakh and Rohit received ₹2 lakh through Pintu. The accused also opened several other fake bank accounts.
So far, five people have been arrested in this case. Police will take the three newly arrested accused on remand for further questioning.
What can Banks do? How to stop these frauds?
Banks should introduce more stringent guidelines for account opening and enhance the monitoring of newly opened accounts.
In another update, Bhojpur cyber police on Friday arrested two cybercriminals and a finance company bank official for allegedly opening mule bank accounts to route illegal funds. The accounts were opened in the names of at least 27 innocent or gullible residents of the district and were later used to transfer fraud money.
The arrested bank official was allegedly complicit in opening these mule accounts in exchange for commission. The victims were lured with an offer of Rs2,000-Rs3,000 to open bank accounts, which were later misused by cyberfrauds.
