Mumbai: POS Agent Held for Providing 300 SIM Cards to Cyber Fraudsters

The Cyber Cell of the North Regional Division of Mumbai Police has arrested a 25-year-old POS (Point of Sale) agent for allegedly supplying more than 300 SIM cards to cyber fraudsters by misusing Aadhaar cards of various individuals. The accused, identified as Kamal Pukraj Kuldeep, was working as a POS agent for telecom companies.

According to police officials, several of the SIM cards provided by the accused were used in multiple online fraud cases across the country. In one such case, cyber criminals used a SIM card issued through Kuldeep to threaten a senior citizen with a “digital arrest” and cheated him of nearly ₹29 lakh.

The complainant, a 66-year-old resident of Goregaon, is a retired assistant officer from the accounts department of Western Railway. On December 10, 2025, he received a video call from a man dressed in a police uniform who identified himself as Ranjit Kumar and claimed to be a police officer in Mumbai.

The caller informed the victim that a SIM card had been issued using his Aadhaar details and that he would have to file a complaint with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad in Lucknow. The call was then allegedly transferred to another person who introduced himself as a police officer named Prem Kumar Gautam and pretended to register the complaint.

Shortly after, the victim received another call from an unidentified individual claiming to be Sadanand Date, the chief of the National Investigation Agency, calling from Lucknow. Though the caller’s face was not visible, he claimed that a bank account had been opened using the victim’s Aadhaar card and that around ₹60 crore linked to money laundering had been routed through the account.

The fraudster further alleged that the victim had received a 10 percent commission from the illegal transactions and that cases of money laundering and human trafficking had been registered against him. The victim was threatened with at least 10 years of imprisonment and told he was under “digital arrest,” meaning he could not leave his house or communicate with anyone.

To make the scam appear legitimate, the fraudsters sent forged documents bearing logos of the National Investigation Agency and Reserve Bank of India, along with a letter purportedly issued in the name of RBI Executive Director Kesavan Ramachandran.

Out of fear of arrest, the victim transferred approximately ₹29 lakh to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. He was also instructed to send a WhatsApp message every two hours stating, “I am safe for national security,” while the fraudsters assured him that the money would be returned after verification.

When the promised refund did not materialise within the stipulated time, the victim realised he had been cheated and approached the Cyber Cell of the North Region. Police subsequently registered a case under relevant sections of the IT Act and for impersonation of police officers.

During the investigation, officers discovered that the SIM card used in the fraud had been issued without the original Aadhaar holder’s permission. Further technical analysis led police to Kuldeep in Chembur, where he was detained for questioning and later arrested.

Investigators revealed that Kuldeep, while working as a POS agent, had access to Aadhaar details submitted by customers seeking SIM cards. Using these documents, he allegedly activated over 300 SIM cards in different names and photographs from Airtel and Vodafone Idea and supplied them to cyber fraudsters in exchange for hefty commissions.

Police said the SIM cards were used in several cyber fraud cases across the country, resulting in victims losing crores of rupees. Further investigation into the network of cyber criminals using these SIM cards is currently underway.