Paying power bills with stolen credit cards, 2 EB agents held

Chennai

The accused Atul Kumar of Johripur and Kunal of Ghaziabad provided the details of their customers’ electricity bills to the fraudsters who in turn paid them using the stolen credit card credentials on a commission basis, said police.

“These agencies get 1.2 per cent commission for paying the EB bills

online after collecting the money from households. However, the fraudsters wooed the two agents with a 15 per cent commission. So, if a person approaches the agent to pay his EB bill of Rs 1,000, they would take Rs 150 and send Rs 850 to the fraudsters along with the EB connection number. The fraudsters would pay the bill using credit card details they stole from the gullible and pocket the entire Rs 850,” said inspector Pushparaj, who arrested the duo after camping in Delhi with his team.

However, the main gang who ran call centres in Delhi, Bihar and Jharkhand, who cheated the cardholders to make them reveal the credentials, claiming they have won gifts, remains absconding. Police have cracked down on the gang nearly 20 months after a man from the city lost Rs 1.08 lakh. Govindaraj of West Mambalam shared the details of his two credit cards and the OTPs he received to the fraudsters who informed that he has won gifts for the cards and the OTPs had to be shared immediately to claim the gifts.

The accused Atul Kumar and Kunal were remanded in judicial custody on Sunday.