Mira Bhayandar: Three arrested for duping insurance policyholders

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The Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) Police busted an inter-state gang that duped people on the pretext of renewal, surrender, and updating of various policies and arrested three persons in the case on Tuesday.

The MBVV's Cyber Crime Unit has arrested an inter-state fraudster gang, who used to make calls in the name of insurance companies and allegedly duped people on the pretext of helping them with insurance policies online.

The accused were contacting the policyholders of the renowned company through WhatsApp and mobile numbers and were deceiving them by sending bogus QR codes in the name of renewing their policies. The QR code involved in the crime is attached to their various e-wallets.

The cyber police arrested three gang members from DB Ozone society Kashimira area. It has been revealed the arrested accused have so far cheated 40 people of Rs 11 lakh. The accused caught has been identified as Salim Akbar Siddique( 24) Chand Vakeel Ahmed(26) and Aftab Ashfaque Shaikh( 22).

During the interrogation, it was revealed that all of them had worked in the different BPO and back offices for several months before letting the job take the customer's data and started duping people, said an officer from the cyber unit.

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Most medical and insurance companies renew their customer's policies in accounting years and the customer holding the policies too knows this very well. Messages and emails have started coming to the customers on their respective mobile numbers and registered mail IDs for policy renewal from the companies.

Siddique is said to be the mastermind of this gang. He had worked in several BPOs in Malad and another area when he meet the duo working in different BPOs. Siddique left the job in the year 2019 and started duping the people. He used to hire experienced ex-employee of the BPO and took work from them by paying monthly salaries. In this case, Siddique used to pay the duo Rs 25,000 salary and also give intensive and other benefits when the employee duped at least 10 people a day.

Aftab who was working in a BPO and earning Rs 15,000 monthly salary, was hired by Siddique by luring him to earn Rs 25,000 per month and plus intensive.

Complaint Praveen Mehta, a resident of Mira Road, had given a complaint to the Cyber Crime Unit that an unknown person had sent a scanner on his WhatsApp by assuring him to renew his medical policy on the phone. Mehta was cheated for Rs 35,000.

Under the guidance of DCP Avinash Ambure a team was formed which was led by the cyber in-charge police inspector Sujit Kumar Gunjkar his team began the investigation.

While probing the matter, the police traced the ATM of Kashi Mira from where the accused had withdrawn the money after cheating. After identifying the accused from the CCTV camera installed in the ATM, the police put the informers behind the accused.

It came to know that the accused was living on the 15th floor of the same building, after which the police contacted the DB Ozone Society of Kashi Mira. "After raiding room number 1506 of building number 30, these three accused were arrested and we seized one laptop, 10 mobiles, 10 debit cards, one checkbook and passbook, and three Aadhaar cards from their custody," the officer added.

During the interrogation it has been revealed, all three accused used to work in different Mediclaim companies earlier. "During work, they steal the data of many customers. With the help of the same stolen data, these people used to cheat the customers by assuring them to call them to renew, update or surrender their policy by becoming the officials of the company," said DCP Avinash Ambure.

"Life/Vehicle/Property/Term/Medical policies have been obtained from the accused in the name of citizens of different states. They have contacted and defrauded policyholders all over India. We request people not to entertain the messages and calls for policy renewal. Directly contact the concerned policy company or its authorized agent from whom the policy has been taken." he added.