In a remarkable bust, the Ghaziabad Police arrested three individuals on Friday for allegedly running a credit card scam that operated out of a mobile call centre set up inside a Force Traveller bus. The gang, which had been active for three years, is believed to have cheated people out of more than Rs3 crore.
The operation came to light after police received a tip-off about a suspicious Force Traveller bus that had been stationary near Gaur Green City in Indirapuram. Upon investigation, police discovered three men inside the bus, which was equipped with laptops, mobile phones, headphones, and a list of credit card users to call. The criminals had used the mobile call centre as a base to target and defraud unsuspecting credit card holders.
The three men arrested were identified as Sushant Kumar, 30, from Trivandrum, Kerala, Sunny Kashyap, 20, from Tila Mod, and Aman Goswami, 24, from Loni Border. Police believe that seven more gang members remain at large. The gang had been operating for several years across Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad, using the bus as a mobile base to avoid detection.
According to ACP Swatantra Singh, the scammers would board the bus at different locations in Delhi and Ghaziabad, each carrying a list of credit card users along with their phone numbers. The gang members would then call the victims and offer credit card reward points as a lure. They asked victims to click on a link sent via text message, which was designed to collect credit card information, including card details and OTP (One-Time Password).
If victims refused or grew suspicious, the scammers would verbally abuse them to pressure them into complying. Once the victims shared their information, the gang would use it to steal funds.
The operation was well-coordinated, with the bus serving as a mobile hub to facilitate the scam. Since the bus was constantly moving, it allowed the gang to evade detection while targeting a wide range of credit card holders across multiple cities.
The gang used forged rent agreements to acquire SIM cards, which they used to execute the scam. Archana, a member of the gang, was responsible for supplying the credit card user data, while Akhil Paijan provided the mobile phones and SIM cards for the operation.
The bus owner, identified as Dhyanchand from Delhi, rented out the vehicle to the gang for Rs2,000 a day, under the guise of using it for YouTube video shoots. This arrangement allowed the gang to hide their illegal activities under the cover of a legitimate business.