Cyber-fraud gang duping bank customers on pretext of KYC updates busted, 4 held: Delhi Police
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has busted a major multi-state cyber-fraud syndicate allegedly involved in duping bank customers on the pretext of updating their KYC details and arrested four men from Jharkhand and West Bengal, an official said on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as Shiv Kumar Ravidas (22), Sanjay Ravidas (33), Dinesh Ravidas (29) and Shubham Kumar Barnwal (25), he said.
"The syndicate members posed as bank officials and created a sense of urgency among the victims regarding KYC updates. They allegedly induced people to install malicious APK files on their mobile phones, which enabled them to gain unauthorised remote access to banking applications and personal financial data," the senior police officer said.
Police said the accused used the compromised credentials to fraudulently avail loans, transfer funds into mule accounts and withdraw the cheated money through ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) machines and other banking channels.
The case came to light following a complaint from a Sagarpur resident who reported receiving calls and messages from unknown persons impersonating bank officials in December 2025.
She was persuaded to click on a malicious link sent via an online messaging application. Subsequently, she received SMS alerts about a loan of Rs 8.33 lakh being processed on her credit card and unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3.3 lakh. She denied authorising any such transactions, following which a case was registered.
Police found that the accused were operating from areas near Jamtara in Jharkhand and frequently shifting locations between Jharkhand and West Bengal to evade arrest.
Coordinated raids led to the apprehension of three accused from the Nirsa area of Jharkhand's Dhanbad district while they were allegedly calling and targeting victims. The fourth accused was arrested from Hooghly in West Bengal.
During the operation, police seized 10 mobile phones, 13 SIM cards, clothing allegedly used during ATM withdrawals and digital evidence, including malicious APK files, phone data, Excel sheets containing bank details and transaction messages.
Preliminary interrogation revealed that different members had specific roles, including procuring APK files and mule accounts, making calls to victims, handling bank accounts and withdrawing cash, police said.
Further investigation is underway.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
