Fraudsters eyeing your old mobiles, new bank accounts

Hyderabad: Used and damaged mobile phones are the latest rage among cyber criminals. Sourced from rural pockets in Telangana by middlemen, these mobiles are being bought for as much as Rs5,000 a quintal (about 100 mobiles per quintal) by fraudsters who in turn sell them to cyber criminals across India.
According to cops, these mobiles are procured by Bihar-based agents who refurbish them there.They are then supplied to gangs, operating cybercrime rackets, in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and other parts of the country.
This new modus operandi was unearthed by the Telangana police during a recent joint operation of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau and the Ramagundam police. They seized 4,000 mobiles and arrested three people during the operation.
Initial probe revealed that Akthar Ali, a technician from Bihar who works with cybercrime gangs, hired three people — Md Shameem, Abdul Salaam, and Md Iftekhar also from Bihar — to procure used mobile phones from users. The trio was sent to Karimnagar in Telangana for the job, where they were provided food, accommodation, travel, and other needs.
The three went around Karimnagar, Peddapalli, and Mancherial, procuring phones in exchange for small quantities of cash and plastic items.
Investigators said that, like any other traders, they would roam around in the rural pockets of these districts on two-wheelers and use a speaker to play a pre-recorded message calling for prospective sellers of mobile phones. After procuring them, the three would pack them in large bags and transport them to Akthar, either by rail or by road, for which the latter would pay them up to 5,000 per quintal.wwQuoting the trio, the investigators said that Akthar would get these mobile phones to working condition and, subsequently, supply them to cybercrime gangs across the country.
Police said that they seized 4,000 mobile phones which the trio had procured since July and foiled their attempt before the mobiles landed in the hands of cyber criminals. They, however, did not rule out the possibility of any consignments being shipped to Akthar – who is now absconding.
"Through the District Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (D4C), we have already alerted the Telangana Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (T4C) and also other units in the state about this case. We are also sensitising people to not dispose of their used or damaged mobile phones in the hands of such unauthorised persons," said Jupaka Krishnamurthy, inspector, Cyber Crime, Ramagundam commissionerate.
The trio is in judicial remand, while hunt is on for others who could be associated with them, added the official.