Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau recently caught a gang from Bihar involved in buying old mobile phones for use in cybercrimes. The police recovered three large bags containing around 4,000 mobile phones from the gang.
The Cyber Crime Police received reliable information that some people from Bihar were behaving suspiciously in the Power House Colony of Godavarikhani. These individuals were trying to buy old mobile phones from people at low prices, offering either plastic items or money in exchange. Officers from the Ramagundam Cyber Crime Police Station quickly responded and managed to arrest three suspects.
The arrested men were identified as Mohammad Shamim, aged 30, Abdul Salam, aged 28, and Mohammad Iftikhar, aged 32. All of them are from Bihar. In addition to the mobile phones, the police also seized a bike from the suspects. Later, the police arrested Akthar Ali, aged 37, who runs a second-hand phone shop in Rowtara, Katihar district.
During questioning, the gang revealed that they had been buying old mobile phones in Ramagundam and nearby districts for about a month. Their plan was to transport these phones to Bihar, where they would hand them over to their associates in their village. The associates would then repair the phones, changing software and other components, before selling them to cyber fraudsters in areas like Jamtara and Deoghar in Jharkhand.
These cyber fraudsters use the repaired phones to carry out various scams. The money obtained from these scams is then shared among the fraudsters, their associates, and others involved in the scheme.
Based on the confessions of the arrested gang members, the police registered a case under various sections of the law, including Section 66 D of the ITA Act-2008 and other related acts, at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Ramagundam.
The Cyber Security Bureau has warned the public not to sell or give away their old mobile phones to unknown people. If old phones are sold to suspicious individuals, there is a high chance they could be used in cyber crimes. Since the identity of the device remains linked to the original owner, sellers could also be suspected of involvement in such crimes. Therefore, it is important for people to be very careful when selling their old phones.
