The Kadapa police busted a cyber fraud and arrested four persons, including a Nepali, on Sunday.
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The arrested persons allegedly made fake calls to the next of kin of those who succumbed to COVID-19, offered them financial support under ‘YSR Bima’ scheme, and swindled their hard-earned money from their bank accounts.
The police cracked the case within 14 days, and recovered cash of ₹3.29 lakh, 73 ATM cards, 18 mobile phones, and 290 SIM cards from the possession of the accused.
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Special teams formed by Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan swiftly nabbed the accused who included Ashok Lohar (33), a Nepali by origin, but a resident of New Delhi.
The other accused were Menuga Narendra (22) and Jangampalli Janardhan (22), both from Miduthur village of Khajipet in Kadapa, and Avulamanda Narayana (22) of Komaravolu in Prakasam district.
Investigation by Deputy Superintendent (Kadapa One Town) N.V. Nagaraju revealed that an amount of ₹8.28 lakh had been received through 73 bank accounts through various UPI IDs.
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Fake gift scratch cards
Another form of fraud that had come to light was to send fake gift scratch cards and application letters in the name of popular e-commerce and telemarketing companies and offering mobile phones at cheap prices with ‘cash on delivery’ option.
“Instead of mobile phones, the customers found to their shock stones stuffed inside neatly-sealed boxes,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (Admin) Tushar Dudi at a media conference here on Sunday.
He said the details of the frozen accounts were being sent to the Enforcement Directorate, Income-Tax Department, and the Ministry of External Affairs for an in-depth probe in view of the possible international ramifications.