Mumbai crime: Fake credit card racket foiled

The Mumbai police have busted a gang of fraudsters who allegedly made fake credit cards on a large scale, and used them for online and offline shopping. Two people involved in the racket were arrested by the police while travelling to Pune on Friday, while the mastermind of the gang is yet to be arrested.

The police recovered 270 fake credit cards from the fraudsters. Pic/Nimesh Dave

The police have recovered more than 270 fake credit and debit cards, fake driving licences registered in various states, and the equipment used for hacking and manufacturing the duplicate cards from the accused.

Those arrested have been identified as Vishwajeet Dambar, 26, a resident of Kurar village in Malad (East) and Nitin Ingle, 24, a resident of Kherwadi in Bandra (East). They have been booked for fraud, forgery and other offences at Dahisar police station.

According to the Additional Commissioner of Police (North), Fatehsingh Patil, the police received a tip-off a few days ago. He said that the leader of the gang, who is allegedly a hacker, is on the run. The police said that the accused first hacked account details from the Internet and then prepared fake identification papers of account holders.

"They bought mobile phones, expensive watches, jewellery, electronics and other expensive products using the cards at various places in Maharashtra and neighbouring states. Since the actual account holder gets a notification whenever his card is used, they would use a card only once," said Pawar, the investigating officer.

After shopping, the accused either re-sold the products on online websites like OLX or sold them offline to earn a quick buck. A case has been registered against them and officials said that they are interrogating the accused to get the entire extent of their racket.