Aadhar card fraud, cloned fingerprints: Cyber criminals keep cops on tenterhooks in AP,Telangana

The arrested of five cyber criminals, who were stealing cash from bank accounts with fake fingerprints, blew the lid of cyber crimes done with impunity. It was found that 416 cybercrimes were committed in various states across the country and a whopping Rs 5.9 crore was looted.

Kadapa(Andhra Pradesh): Rising incidents of cybercrime are keeping police on tenterhooks in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Telangana where cops are working over time to stop such crimes.

The arrested of five cyber criminals, who were stealing cash from bank accounts with fake fingerprints, blew the lid of cyber crimes done with impunity. It was found that 416 cybercrimes were committed in various states across the country and a whopping Rs 5.9 crore was looted. Cops got evidence of more than one lakh fingerprints, Aadhaar numbers and other personal information belonging to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Investigations revealed that Rs 5,500 was withdrawn from the bank account of S Shankaraiah, who lives in Electrical Colony in Ramanjaneyapuram, Kadapa. He did not receive the OTP. He filed a complaint on December 13, 2022, at the Kadapa Cyber Police Station and registered a case on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Two days ago, a person named Venkatesh called the victim Shankaraiah through an internet call and said his bank account has been confiscated after a complaint was filed in the cyber police station. He also threatened to kill Shankaraiah if his account was not restored and morph the photos and post them on social media.

Then the victim approached the police. A special team was formed under the leadership of ASP and an investigation is going on. Cybercriminals collected fingerprints from bank business correspondent agents and bank customer service points through Aadhaar enabled payment system and made duplicates of them on a computer.

With the help of fake fingerprints, cash is being withdrawn from the bank accounts linked to the Aadhaar cards of the victims. Based on the call data received by the victim, the location of the suspect was identified and it was found that he stays in Kadapa.

The main accused, Nallagalla Venkatesh of Sundarayya Colony, Dornala Mandal, Prakasam District, along with his accomplices Malla Ajay, Ganta Kalyan, Pasupuleti Gopi and Sheikh Jani were arrested from Kadapa Old Bypass. Kadapa SP Anburajan said that equipment for making fake fingerprints, computer hard disks, cars and other equipment were seized from them.