Online Fraud: Chandigarh Police Arrests 5 in Paul Merchant Case
The UT police’s Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) has arrested five people accused of online fraud in duping Paul Merchants, a finance company of Rs 1.95 crore.
Pankaj Kumar (29), of Haryana‘s Sirsa district, and Vikram (28), Mukesh Kumar (29), Rajender Parsad, alias Raju (38), and Rohtash Kumar (27), all of Hisar district, have been identified as online fraud suspects.
A managing director (accounts) at the company, stated that they were a non-banking financial corporation authorised by the RBI to issue prepaid wallets and cards to the general public.
The prepaid wallets and cards were distributed via the mobile application ‘PaulpayV2.0,’ which allowed customers to use a variety of payment services.
The complainant claimed their system was hacked and the company lost Rs 1.95 crore to online fraud, prompting the filing of a case on December 31.
1500 Fake IDs Used in this Online Fraud
During the course of the investigation, the police discovered that 1,497 IDs were created on the application and that as many as 3,114 transactions were made using these IDs to fraudulently withdraw Rs 1.94 crore in this online fraud
The police discovered that some of the mobile phone numbers used to create the IDs were still active in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar.
According to the information, police conducted raids and arrested Pankaj Kumar on January 5. From his possession, a few SIM cards used to generate the Paulpay IDs were recovered.
Modus Operandi of this Online fraud
During questioning, he revealed that his friend Vikram, who owned a café in Tulshi Chowk, Fatehabad, Haryana, had approached him and told him that he and his friends Kamaldeep, Rajender, Mukesh, and Rohtash were working together.
Pankaj was asked to provide application IDs for the online fraud. He was paid Rs 15,000 per ID. Pankaj allegedly created multiple IDs and gave them to Vikram. The other suspects were then apprehended.
The police said they recovered mobile phones containing screenshots of transactions and mobile numbers used to create the IDs from their possession.
A Bug in the App Helped the Culprits in the Online Fraud
According to the police, the suspects discovered a bug in the application and used it to withdraw money via the mobile application. During questioning, Rohtash admitted he was familiar with bug hunting and had discovered a bug in the app.
The suspects were found with eight mobile phones, four laptop computers, 31 SIM cards, and four trucks.
A Track of Amount Spent by the Scammers
- Rs 30L to pay off the truck loan
- Rs 5L for recharging a vehicle’s FASTag
- Recharging a mobile phone costs Rs 2L.
- Paying insurance premiums costs Rs 2.50L.
- Rs 30L spent on vehicle fuel
- Buying Amazon gift card vouchers costs Rs 25L.
- Rs 50 lakh has been transferred to Paytm accounts.
- Rs 40 lakh in loan repayments
Scammers utilise a variety of techniques and methods to deceive their victims in online fraud. Online fraud is a common occurrence. Our safety is entirely within our control. We must be constantly vigilant and avoid opening or clicking on any suspicious links or attachments.
We should also avoid discussing sensitive information with anyone over the phone, text, or email. Please notify the relevant bank issuing bank, as well as the nearest police station or cybercrime cell, of the incident.
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