14 November,2024 08:07 PM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
The accused in police custody. Pic/ Mumbai Police sources
The Mumbai Police has arrested eight people in connection with a fake investment stock market fraud who are suspected of supplying over 30,000 sim cards to foreigners and Indian nationals who are believed to be involved in the stock market fraud, an official said on Thursday.
The accused are dealers for major SIM card providers, he said.
According to the police, the racket which was busted by Mumbai Central Cyber Cell of the city police involves the cyber fraud that took place between May and June 2024, where the accused allegedly lured victims into a WhatsApp group called 'MSFL Stock Chart 33' and once added to the group, the victims were convinced to invest money in stock trading by setting up accounts with a fake brokerage company.
They were also allegedly shown fabricated virtual profits in their accounts to encourage further investment, the police said.
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It said that the accused created a fake narrative of high profits from trading, leading the victims to transfer a total of Rs 51,36,000 into various bank accounts. This was done by using fake information and manipulating stock market data to deceive the victims into believing they were making substantial profits.
"The investigation has also revealed the involvement of telecom company employees in facilitating the fraud," an official said.
The accused allegedly used illegal methods to port mobile numbers from different networks using a UPC (Universal Porting Code). These numbers were then used to create multiple WhatsApp groups for fraudulent activities.
Employees from the telecom companies were found to be working in collusion to illegally port numbers without proper KYC (Know Your Customer) checks. These numbers were then used by the fraudsters to promote the fraudulent stock trading schemes, the official added.
The police said that six people, arrested in the matter, were employed with different telecom companies and were identified as-- Mahesh Mahadev Kadam, Rohit Kanhaiyalal Yadav, Sagar Pandurang Thakur, Raj Ravinath Arde, Gulabchand Kanhaiya Jaiswar and Mahesh Chandrakant Pawar.
Two others---Usman Ali Mohejabur Rahman Sheikh and Abubakar Siddiqi Yusuf are shop owners who were also arrested in the matter.
The suspects were involved in illegally activating SIM cards without proper KYC documentation and selling them for commission to shop owners who then used them in fraudulent schemes, said an official.
The police said that in the past year alone, the arrested suspects are believed to have sold over 30,000 SIM cards without performing KYC checks. These SIM cards were allegedly used for illegal activities, including fraud, cyber crimes, and other deceptive practices targeting innocent victims.
The Mumbai Police's Cyber Crime took action under the guidance of senior officers, including Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, Special Commissioner Deven Bharti, and Additional Commissioner Shashikumar Meena. The operation was led by Police Inspector Mausami Patil from the Cyber Police Station, Worli, Mumbai, along with her team, the police said.
