MP: Major SIM card fraud involving biometrics busted, 5 held

Five persons were arrested in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh on Monday for allegedly taking biometric details of people on the pretext of a Central government scheme to activate mobile phone SIM cards, several of which were later used for financial fraud, an official said.

The SIM cards, obtained in bulk, were sold in the name of fake firms within and outside the state, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Police (Jabalpur zone) Ankit Shukla said.

"The SIM Cards were activated in the name of several persons in various districts of Madhya Pradesh by collecting their biometric details on pretext of registration for the Centre's Ayushman Bharat health care scheme," he said.

He said preliminary investigations had revealed that many of the activated SIM cards were used for financial frauds like using one-time-password (OTP) to withdraw money from bank accounts, as well as fleecing money through matrimonial, job, e-wallet and social media outlets, he said.

Two of the accused, Ritesh Kanojia, a territory sales manager of Idea Vodafone, and Rohit Bajaj, a former manager with the firm, helped others to get bulk SIM cards, he said.

He identified the other accused as Nishant Patel, Asfaq Ahmed and Amit Soni.

"Nishant Patel sent the bulk SIM cards to other states through courier services. We have seized mobile phones, 35 SIM cards from them," he said.

The probe began after police received two complaints, one of which was related to a financial fraud committed by hacking the Facebook account of a person, the SP said.

The cyber cells of other states are also being roped in to gather more details of the racket, he added.