Delhi police bust Rs 2.6 crore SBI credit card scam, 18 cyber crooks arrested

Call centre insiders among arrested; fraud exposed nationwide breach of bank customers’ data

New Delhi: Eighteen cyber crooks, including employees of call centres in Delhi and Gurugram, were arrested for running a multi-crore rupee nationwide financial crime syndicate that targeted SBI credit card customers, misusing their data, said an official of Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Saturday.

The masterminds of the syndicate were identified as Ankit Rathi, Waseem, and Vishal Bhardwaj as they were the alleged orchestrators, strategists, and account/cash handlers of the white-collar crime, said Vinit Kumar, DCP, Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit.

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The criminal activity extended to victims across multiple states, resulting in substantial cumulative financial losses estimated at least Rs 2.6 crore, he said.

“This breakthrough sets a blueprint for proactive, full-cycle dismantling of cybercrime syndicate,” said DCP Vinit Kumar. The police said 52 mobile phones, multiple SIM cards and customers’ bank details were recovered during the six-month operation of IFSO that unearthed the fraud with the arrest of several data thieves and crypto converters who were operating from a call centre in the Dwarka area in South West Delhi.

The syndicate involved Vishesh Lahori alias Paji and Durgesh Dhakad, both call centre insiders now under arrest, who served as data brokers by sharing sensitive information from the call centre Teleperformance, Gurugram.

The syndicate’s members were accused of being involved in large-scale fraudulent activities targeting State Bank of India (SBI) credit card holders across India, said the DCP. The members of the syndicate impersonated SBI customer care executives to deceitfully obtain One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and Card Verification Value (CVV) from unsuspecting victims, the police said.

These credentials were subsequently used to purchase electronic gift cards from travel booking platforms, which were later used to purchase domestic air tickets, said DCP Vinit Kumar.

The syndicate’s task of field execution, phishing calls and victim targeting was carried out by gang members identified as Rahul Vishwakarma, Pawan Bisht, Kailash Purohit alias Kabir, Himanshu Chugh alias Babu, Ravin Saini and others, the police said.

The gang’s finance handlers, who converted proceeds of crime into crypto/cash or undertook gift card laundering, were identified as Akhilesh Lakhotia and Harsh Chauhan. The syndicate was provided multiple SIM cards by Shivam Sehrawat, also under arrest, the police said

The investigation also exposed the offence of employees of a call centre in Gurugram leaking sensitive data. “Employees serving in Teleperformance, Gurugram, a major call centre, since 2019, had been systematically infiltrating company data for years. This alarming breach not only exposes the company’s inability to safeguard confidential information but also raises questions about the adequacy of its security protocols and monitoring systems,” said an official.

Given that Teleperformance holds critical data of major banks in India, this breach represents a severe financial risk and positions the company as a significant source of data leakage leading to cyber financial frauds, he said.