Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch has cracked an international gang of five people including a woman allegedly involved in renting and selling bank accounts to cyber fraudsters and operators of online gaming scams, earning lakhs of rupees in the process.
The gang’s arrest is being seen as a major blow to a cybercrime syndicate operating from Thailand, China, Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
Acting on specific intelligence, Unit 2 of the Crime Branch raided an office in Kandivali (East) on Tuesday and arrested Vaibhav Patil, Sunil Paswan, Aman Gautam, Khushboo Sundarjulia, and Ritesh Bandekar. Police seized 50 passbooks of various banks, ATM cards, swiping machines, two laptops, and dozens of SIM cards during the operation.
Investigators were surprised to find that most of the seized bank accounts were opened in the names of slum dwellers but were being operated by others. The police will also examine whether bank officials followed proper KYC protocols while opening these accounts.
“We received information that certain individuals were running an office to rent out and sell bank accounts and SIM cards to unknown persons, which is illegal,” a police officer said. To verify the information, an undercover customer was sent, and once confirmed, the raid was conducted.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the gang targeted poor slum residents, luring them with attractive incentives to open bank accounts. In one case, a daily wage worker from Dahisar was paid ₹10,000 for using his KYC documents to open an account. The gang then linked the account to their own mobile number for OTP authentication, enabling them to use it for large transactions without the account holder’s knowledge. Police have found evidence of heavy transactions through these accounts and are analysing the data to track down the masterminds behind the racket.
Sources said the accused provided account details to overseas cybercriminals, who used them for fraudulent schemes such as “digital arrest” scams and online gaming frauds. The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are likely, officials said.
“We have just taken them into custody and are analysing transaction records and SIM card usage. We are also trying to determine whether account holders were aware of the misuse or were completely duped,” a source added. Police suspect the network extends beyond Mumbai and is linked to several international cyber fraud operations.