Villagers’ bank accounts used for cyber fraud, 4 held

Agra: Muzaffarnagar police busted an interstate cyber fraud network that allegedly used bank accounts opened in the names of unsuspecting villagers to route more than Rs 1 crore in fraud proceeds across several states, after luring them with loan promises or small payments and taking control of their ATM cards, cheque books, passbooks and PIN details.The case came to light when Farzana, a resident of Bhopa area, lodged a complaint at Civil Lines police station on June 15, saying two men had promised to arrange a loan for her and opened a bank account in her name. “They took my ATM card, cheque book, passbook, PIN details and other banking documents. The loan was never sanctioned, and fraudulent money was routed through my account,” she alleged in her complaint.Muzaffarnagar SSP Sanjay Kumar Verma said an FIR was registered under BNS sections 318 (cheating), 336 (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), and 340 (using forged documents as genuine).

Police then analysed ATM CCTV footage, bank transactions and inputs from surveillance cell and cyber police station, which led to the arrest of four accused — Aryan Tomar alias Shubham and Badal Rana of Baghpat district, and Ashu Tyagi and Navneet Tyagi of Amroha district.Police recovered seven ATM cards, four fake Aadhaar cards, one PAN card, three bank passbooks, eight mobile phones and a car from their possession. Investigators said the accused withdrew money through ATMs and, in some cases, converted fraud proceeds into cryptocurrency through Telegram-based channels.

During interrogation, police said, the accused confessed that they targeted economically vulnerable people, especially women, and persuaded them to open bank accounts in exchange for small sums or on the promise of loans. “They would take ATM cards, passbooks, cheque books and PIN details from account holders and use these accounts to receive cyber fraud money,” a police officer said.Verma said transactions worth around Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore were traced through accounts controlled by the gang.

“The accused have links with cybercrime cases reported in several states. Their operations extended to Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” he said.Police verified the accounts through National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and found several complaints linked to them. Officials said these “mule accounts” helped cyber criminals receive and move fraud money quickly before victims or police could block transactions.

“Further investigation is underway to trace the interstate network, identify handlers and follow the financial trail,” Verma said, adding that all four accused were being sent to jail after completing legal formalities.Police said they were also identifying villagers whose accounts may have been misused and examining whether any local agents or bank staff helped the accused open or operate accounts without proper scrutiny. The cyber cell is tracking transaction trails, ATM withdrawals, mobile numbers, fake identity documents and cryptocurrency conversions to identify others linked to the racket.