The cybercrime police on Wednesday arrested two men who allegedly duped businessmen in and around the city by conning them into downloading two apps, one that would give them investment tips and another that allowed the conmen to access SMS passwords sent by banks to mobile phones.
The accused cheated several people of lakhs of rupees by stealing their debit and credit card details and accessing one-time passwords (OTPs) using the app, claim the police.
The accused have been identified as Kamalakar, 26, a resident of Vidyanagar in Chickballapur district, who works as a receptionist for a pharmaceutical company, and Vinod, 24, a physical education teacher at a high school in Gauribidanur. The police had earlier arrested two others – Raghavendra, 24, and Rakesh Kumar, 24 – in the same scam. The accused used Kamalakar and Vinod’s bank accounts for transactions.
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According to the police, the gang would approach business firms promising to get them investment tips for a nominal fee. They would ask them to download a mobile app that would give them relevant alerts. The victims would be asked to fill the details in the app including bank account details. Once the required info was uploaded into the app, the accused would access the data and transfer the money online before switching off their mobile phones. The accused would use fake IDs to create bank accounts and avail SIM cards and share the robbed money accordingly, a police officer said.