Kochi Cyber Police nab mParivahan fraudsters from Varanasi: 16-yr-old mastermind behind nationwide scam

Kochi: Two members of a gang nabbed from Varanasi by the Kochi City Cyber Police team in connection with an mParivahan fraud case were brought to Kochi and have been remanded.

Atulkumar Singh (32) and Manish Singh (24), who were caught from Shivpur in Varanasi, were produced before the magistrate. An application will be filed in the court on Monday seeking the custody of the accused for further questioning.

According to the police, the third accused, who is only 16 years old, is the mastermind of the fraud, having made the apk file and prepared the ground for the fraud. A notice has been issued to him asking him to appear at the cyber station with his parents, producing his computer and other devices within 10 days. If he fails to appear, the police will file a report before the Juvenile Justice Board.

Accused nabbed from Varanasi via undercover probe

After discovering that hundreds of frauds had taken place inside and outside Kerala, City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya handed over the investigation to the Cyber Police. Subsequently, an investigation focused on IP addresses and phone numbers revealed that the accused were in Varanasi. Following which, a special police team reached Varanasi on June 10 and returned with the accused on the night of June 21.

The arrest of the accused was made possible when the Kochi City Police Commissioner contacted top police officials in UP, following the non-cooperation of the Varanasi Police.

The accused, Manish and Atul, were arrested from Shivapur, despite slight resistance from the locals.

Only one native of UP was among the policemen on the Kochi team. A detailed search of their houses was not possible due to warnings of attacks from the accused.

The number plates of about 2,700 vehicles collected over two months and the phone numbers of the owners were found from the accused.

In addition, information including UPI PIN numbers of various individuals collected by the accused through the mParivahan application was also found. Various applications intended for committing fraud, such as honey trap and KYC update, were also discovered.

How was the fraud committed?

The fraud gang steals information including the registration number and phone number of the vehicle owners by hacking into the Motor Vehicle Department’s (MVD) website. Using this, a message is sent to the vehicle owners on WhatsApp in the name of the MVD, asking them to pay a fine for violating traffic laws.

The message typically includes the challan number and registration number of the vehicle, along with a link to pay the fine. When a user clicks on the link, they are taken to the fake app created by the fraudsters, which is similar to the mParivahan app.

Once the application is installed on a mobile phone, the device is hacked and money is debited through unauthorised transactions.