Eight youths held on charge of misusing American Express cards of foreigners
HYDERABAD: A credit card fraud having international ramifications and involving clandestine leakage of clients’ confidential data was busted by police here on Thursday with the arrest of eight youths. The development is likely to have an adverse impact on the call centres’ operations in Hydreabad, which of late got the credit of being a BPO hub in India.
Using the American Express international credit card details of foreigners supplied by the call centre employees here, the arrested persons used to pay power, water and property tax bills. So far, the gang had paid over 350 bills online involving a sum of Rs. 10 lakh, the Commissioner’s Task Force DCP V.B. Kamalasan Reddy told a press conference.
Members of the gang would approach individuals, who received huge water and other bills, assuring to clear the full bills even if half the bill amount was given.
After collecting the bill copy, the gang members would pay the amount online using the credit card number and code of the foreigner they had secured through their agents working in call centres.
Mohd. Moulana, 19, working in Nirnay Technologies call centre at Chaitanyapuri, was one such agent, the DCP said. “I am not connected to the gang that fraudulently made the online payments. But I passed on one customer’s credit card data to one of them,” he explained at a media conference held by the police.
The gang would go to the individual with the payment receipt, collect half the bill amount and share it among themselves. This fraud was going on for the past six months. Among the eight arrested persons was Mohd. Abdul Aleem. He was arrested on similar charge three months ago.
Larger scale
Police suspect that the fraud might be on a much larger scale all over the city. “There could be many persons like Moulana leaking vital data. We’re trying to track them,” the DCP explained. He said the persons who paid water, power and property tax bills through this gang too were liable for punishment and probe was on to identify them. As the fraud was committed using credit card information of foreigners, no case was registered here.
The city police are writing to the American Express company officials about the fraud busted here.
They warned people not to fall prey to the lures of such gangs offering to clear civic amenity bills with less payment.
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