Mumbai cyber crime cell busts 'Task Fraud' gang, 6 held

The Cyber Crime Cell of the Mumbai Police has busted a gang of fraudsters and arrested six people for allegedly operating a Task Fraud an official saidThe police seized Rs 7 lakh 11 mobile phones 47 different bank cards 104 ATM cards passbooks and a bank managers stamp from the gang he saidAccording to the police the arrested individuals were identified as Pramod Kumar Behra Rakesh Kumar Chaudhary Suvendru Das Jaideep Parda and Manoj Kumar RautThe complainant a senior citizen had previously worked in Gulf and after retirement he had moved to Mumbai He had social media accountsIn September last year he received a message from an unknown person who introduced herself as Nisha who purportedly worked for a marketing company She told him he could earn Rs 70 for following an Instagram account Initially he refused but the fraudster convinced him to reconsider himself once he received the money She told him that her company helps young artists and bloggers gain fame and sent him a link to follow an Instagram account The fraudster obtained his personal and bank account information and provided him with a code he then asked him to contact further on a Telegram account an official explainedInitially to lure the complainant he was given a fake task and he even received the payment this led him to trust the fraudsters the police saidMeanwhile in November he was added to a group and asked to log in to a website and place an order After he placed the order he was told it was incorrect and was asked to pay a fine The fraudsters then conned him into transferring Rs 43 lakh to various bank accounts Realising the fraud he rushed to the cyber police station where a case was registered and an investigation was launched by a team of police officials an official saidDeputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalavde instructed the officials to investigate A team led by Police Inspector Savita Shinde along with Assistant Inspectors Poonam Jadhav Nitin Gache Bhuvad Takiq Jadhav and Desai began the investigation the police saidThe police gathered crucial information and subsequently traveled to Odisha where they apprehended the five individuals and brought them to Mumbai The debit cards and bank passbooks were also seized along with the bank managers stamp The authenticity of the stamp is being verified to determine if bank officials were involved in the fraud The six arrested individuals were produced in court an official said