Over 19,000 pre-activated SIM cards seized from cybercriminal gang; 3 held
Over 19,000 pre-activated SIM cards seized from cybercriminal gang; 3 held
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Cuttack: The Crime Branch (CB) on Sunday arrested three cybercriminals, including the main accused Dushmanta Sahu, from Odisha’s Dhenkanal and seized a whopping 19641 SIM cards.
The raid also led to the recovery of Rs 14 lakh in cash, 48 mobile phones, fingerprint scanner, credit cards, debit cards, passbooks, a laptop, 440 passport size photos, 394 voter ID cards, 5 Aadhaar cards, 11 QR code boards and 108 customer application forms.
The other accused have been identified as Sai Prakash Das, Avinash Nayak and Dushmanta Sahu of Nadiali village in Dhenkanal district.
The agency first learned of a WhatsApp account associated with a specific phone number and a profile picture of a well-known figure. At Talabarkot village in Dhenkanal district, it was discovered that the number had been dialled three times in a row on three different mobile phones. The investigation also discovered that a store called 'Sky Arts' was selling pre-activated SIM cards. The shop's proprietor and his coworker, respectively, were Das and Nayak.
CB ADG, Sanjeeb Panda, briefed the media on the gang's methods and arrests, saying that they assisted the creation of fraudulent accounts/wallets in numerous online shopping and gaming apps. "Through Facebook, Dushmanat had joined a group called "Buyer Seller of OTP." Das and Nayak gave him pre-activated BSNL, JIO, Vodafone, and Airtel SIMs, which he shared with the group. He demanded Rs 400 for each SIM and OTP," he explained.
"A thorough financial investigation will be done," he added, noting that the group is suspected of having ties to cyber fraudsters in other parts of the country.
