New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted a “UPI hijack” scam with the arrest of two persons who allegedly bypassed security features of lost or stolen mobile phones to withdraw funds from people’s accounts.
The arrested accused were identified as Gagan (25), a B.Tech dropout, and Ajit Sharma (24), a former manager of an online food selling company, police said.
On November 15 last year, a complaint was filed via the National Cyber Reporting Platform (NCRP) about a financial fraud of Rs 20 lakh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Nidhin Valsan said in a statement.
The victim, a resident of Swaroop Nagar, lost his mobile phone on November 8. When he obtained a new SIM card on November 12, he received notifications of unauthorised transactions from his bank account, he said.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered and an investigation was launched. Teams analysed call details and banking transactions, and conducted raids in Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, resulting in the identification of Gagan and Ajit, the officer said.
“Despite their attempts to mislead investigators, evidence confirmed their involvement and they were subsequently arrested,” said the DCP.
Explaining the modus operandi of the accused, Valsan said they exploited lost or stolen mobile phones, bypassing security features, to hijack UPI-linked accounts and transfer funds to their accounts.
Gagan procured lost or stolen mobile phones and they reset them by watching online tutorials. If banking applications were logged in on a phone, they would reset UPI PINs using Aadhaar-linked authentication, the officer said.
Funds were then transferred to fake accounts and withdrawn by Ajit, who took a commission. Later, the exploited devices were either resold or used for further fraud, the officer added.
Police said Gagan is skilled in bypassing security features of mobile phones and was earlier involved in gambling cases.
“We recovered the victim’s stolen mobile phone, multiple other mobile devices used in fraud, five debit cards and Rs 1.05 lakh in cash,” the DCP said. PTI BM DIV DIV
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