Fraudsters collect Aadhaar details from job seekers by offering fake online jobs.
MATHURA: Cyber fraud networks operating from villages along the Uttar Pradesh-Rajasthan-Haryana border have turned Mathura into one of the country’s biggest cybercrime hubs, police records show.
A study by the Future Crime Research Foundation says the city accounts for 12% of the country’s cybercrime cases, the second-highest share after neighbouring Bharatpur in Rajasthan. Earlier this month, nearly 90 people were detained after teams from 17 police stations, led by SP (rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat, raided eight villages along Rajasthan and Haryana borders, where officials said cybercriminals exploit the interstate boundary to avoid arrest. Investigators have mapped 18 villages, nicknamed ‘Mini Jamtara’, under the Govardhan , Barsana, Shergarh, Chhata and Kosi police stations as operational bases. In Daulatpur village near Govardhan, a community meeting led by mosque cleric Nafees and village head Laali Mev decided to socially boycott anyone found involved in cyber fraud, and offenders would also have to pay a community fine of Rs 1 lakh. Investigators said they linked nearly 7,000 mobile phone numbers and 1,400 bank accounts to people from these villages. Over the past year, police have registered 177 cyber fraud cases and arrested 312 accused.
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Police said one of the biggest challenges is the overlap of mobile tower coverage along the Haryana border. Police said suspects exploit this to evade surveillance by crossing the border depending on police activity. Police have now increased monitoring in these villages to counter this tactic,” Rawat said. An official at the cyber crime police station told TOI that fraudsters have developed several “sophisticated” methods to cheat people. After changing the registered mobile numbers, these accounts are used to receive and transfer money cheated from victims across the country,” the official said. Speaking to TOI Rawat said, “Cyber criminals are constantly changing their methods, so policing has to evolve as well. Police said the latest crackdown was based on digital leads generated through the union home ministry’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Samanvay Portal.
In several villages around Kosi Kalan, phones in Uttar Pradesh often connect to towers in Haryana, and vice-versa. “Effective action in these border villages will require close coordination between police in the two states, better technical surveillance and joint operations. “One common method involves bank ‘welcome kits’. Fraudsters collect Aadhaar details from job seekers by offering fake online jobs. Using fake or incomplete addresses, they open bank accounts and receive debit cards and account kits with the help of delivery agents. He added that police have also uncovered fake vehicle rental scams. “Fraudsters created websites and social media pages offering attractive monthly rent for private cars. Victims handed over their vehicles after signing fake agreements, only to find that both the vehicles and the fraudsters had disappeared. Police recently recovered several vehicles linked to these scams. We are using technology, intelligence gathering and coordinated field operations to identify and dismantle these networks. Our focus is not only on arresting offenders but also on tracing the financial and digital ecosystem that supports cyber fraud. He appealed to people not to share their bank accounts, SIM cards or identity documents with anyone. Several SIM cards allegedly obtained using fake identities were destroyed during the meeting, and residents took an oath not to engage in cybercrime. Download the TOI App.