Kottayam woman held for renting bank account to cyber fraudsters

Kottayam: A woman from Erumely has been arrested for renting out her bank accounts to Delhi-based cyber fraudsters, police said.

The woman, a rubber tapper, allegedly opened three accounts in various banks and sent the ATM cards and personal identification numbers (PINs) to the gang. Police said the gang linked to the mule account scam befriended her through social media.

The cyber police tracked the gang's bank transactions, which led the investigators to the woman's residence at Cheruvally Estate. She was arrested after a search of her house.

Investigators expressed surprise over how the gang trapped the woman, who had studied only up to Class 10. Police were investigating whether she was aware of the seriousness of her actions.

In a separate but related development, the police have recommended cancelling the bank accounts if anyone had rented them. It has come to light that mostly women and students were involved in this illegal act.

Police have found that transactions worth ₹2 crore were made through the rented bank accounts of two women in Pala. The Telangana police, too, were investigating these two women.

One of these women has now been traced to Palakkad, and another to Pathanamthitta.

Kurichy-based students, too, have rented out their bank accounts, police said, adding 10 related cases have been registered at Chingavanam alone. Seven people were arrested in these cases.

The accused have been charged under sections dealing with organised economic offences. If found guilty, they would get a jail term of up to three years.

Police were investigating a few residents of Erumely, Mundakkayam, Kanjirapalli and Erattupetta, suspected of having rented out their bank accounts. It was found that alleged criminals based in Malappuram recruited the account holders through social media. Police have yet to find the person controlling the accounts.

Modus operandi
Fraudsters target the unemployed, students and those facing financial difficulties, and offer a 'rent' of ₹3,000 to ₹10,000 for each transaction carried out through their bank accounts. Once the money is deposited to the accounts, it will be immediately transferred. Since the transactions were made using smaller amounts, recovering them would be hard.

However, the cyber police find the account holders (those who had rented out their accounts) and arraign them as accused.

A tour and a police case
Three Plus-2 students' plan to fund a tour put them on the wrong side of the law.

Denied money by their parents, the students sought ways to raise funds. One of their friends in Thodupuzha informed them that a gaming site was looking to hire bank accounts to carry out its financial transactions.

Excited to find a way to raise funds, the students opened three accounts at a private bank and handed over their ATM cards, SIMs, passbooks, and cheque books to a Thodupuzha resident in exchange for ₹10,000 each.

Having raised the funds, the students went on a trip to Munnar, unaware that transactions totalling ₹20 lakh had been made through their accounts.

Police later found that the ₹20 lakh came through cyber fraud. It was also found that the Thodupuzha resident had handed over the bank account documents to a person in Ernakulam. Police did not divulge more details since the investigation was still ongoing.

What you could do

* Never share your bank accounts with others.

* Do not share ATM, PIN, OTP, or NetBanking details.

* Never be involved in such acts for financial gain. Such small gains could land you in big legal trouble.

Helpline number: If you fall victim to cyber fraud, call 1930.