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Misuse of Aadhaar card, PAN card and IT returns is what everyone would dread. According to a report by The Times of India, the email account of an officer in a private company was hacked and his IT return, Aadhaar and PAN cards were recovered.

Using copies of the documents, imposters tried to secure car loans from various banks in the city. The cheating came to light after an alert banker called up the officer to verify the documents.


The incident

Rajesh Panchal (33) filed an FIR at Navrangpura police station under IT Act and for misusing his documents. Panchal who resides at Sagar Appartments, near Bhavsar Hostel in New Vadaj, has been working as a team leader at a private company in Chandkheda for the past seven years.

On 7 October, Panchal received a call from Cosmos Bank trying to verify his role as a guarantor for someone seeking a car loan. A shocked Panchal countered that he did not stand as a guarantor for anyone. Bank manager Sandeep Shah called Panchal to the bank and showed him copies of his Aadhaar card, PAN card and two years’ IT returns.

The documents belonged to Rajesh but the photo and the signatures on the documents belonged to someone else, altogether. A person named Kaushik Shukla had applied for a car loan and had provided Panchal’s documents as his guarantor. Panchal immediately called up the police control room.

At that point of time, Kaushik’s friend Mahendra Chopra was also present at the bank. The bank manager, Panchal and Chopra were taken to the Navarangpura station. Chopra promised to produce the person named Rajesh who provided the documents.

After Panchal checked his online CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau India Limited) score, he found out that his documents were used to secure loans from seven other banks. Panchal also found that Shukla had used his name to acquire allotment letter of a house, besides opening a bank account.


Lodging an FIR

Panchal filed an FIR with Navarangpura police against an unknown person named Rajesh Kumar (resident of Amardeep residency in Nana Chiloda), Mahendra Chopra (Resident of Sonaya City Ghatlodia) and Kaushik Shukla, (Resident of Kulin Tenament in Vasna).

Navrangpura PI RV Desai said, “On the basis of Rajesh Panchal’s we have filed the offence and begun the probe. Mahendra Chopra has been arrested in the past Navrangpura and Rajasthan in a case of cheating.”

Panchal said, “As my sister is a bank employee, she had asked me to check my CIBIL score. From CIBIL score, I got to know that loans were being sought in seven banks under my name. The documents had reached the bank manager which had the contact details of the one accused. But the con came to light as the bank manager called on the number mentioned on the IT returns documents. I believe this is the work of a gang. My documents were obtained by hacking my email id and password.


Aadhaar frauds and similar incidents

A regular phone call to a customer about linking Aadhaar card to the phone number has resulted in a young man losing around Rs 1.30 lakh along with his valid phone number. When Sashwat Gupta, from Kozhikode, first got the call did what he was asked to do over the phone call. He had been receiving such similar calls from Airtel as well.

He was asked to SMS the number on his sim card to 121, an Airtel service number. Gupta went on to send that number to the caller only to find that his connection has gone. In fact, that number is used for cancellation of the existing SIM card number when a duplicate SIM is obtained.

The suspicion is that fraudsters had made use of the second number to hack into Gupta’s salary account in ICICI and money was withdrawn from the account at the rate of Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000. The bank got alarmed at the continuous withdrawals. They contacted Gupta on another which was answered by his father. He clarified that it was not his son who was making the withdrawals and that the SIM card was blocked.

Shashwat reportedly said that he had asked the bank to freeze the account but in vain. Even after 18 hours of raising Service Request and repeated follow-ups on customer care and branch, the Bank was not able to freeze the balance. As a result of early next morning, the fraudster was easily able to walk away with the remaining amount.


The Logical Indian take

With Aadhaar being linked to SIM cards, bank accounts and other telephone numbers, making it tamper proof is the need of the hour. But somehow the government has got all its priorities mixed up, at least where Aadhaar cards are concerned. The need of the hour is the systems are both user-friendly and that deter fraud.

Today, we live in an age where bank account numbers are commonly shared and are with almost all the private firms with whom we have a financial exchange or where we make payments.

The Logical Indian urges the authorities to look into the matter and take immediate actions against the fraudsters. It urges the government to ensure that such leaks are avoided in the future to safeguard Indian citizens against misuse of vital personal information.

Reading more here: The Times of India

Beware: Youth Loses 1.30 Lakh After Receiving Hoax Call To Link Aadhaar Card To Phone Number

Ten Men Arrested For Making Fake Aadhaar Cards By Hacking Biometric Security Settings Of UIDAI

Contributors Suggest Correction
Editor : Swarnami Mondal Mondal

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