Trio held for cheating cab aggregators by providing fabricated rider data

The fraudulent system had a test feature that simulated the movement of the vehicle from the pickup point to the drop-off location

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has busted a racket that provided fabricated ridership data to manipulate the incentive system provided by cab aggregators to cheat them.

One of the accused acquired the vendor dealership from the aggregators and, along with his associates, utilised pre-activated SIM cards and cab data. They falsely uploaded data on the aggregators' websites, claiming that the cabs were operational.

The arrested suspects include Manoj Kumar, a mobile phone store owner from Kalyan Nagar, along with his associates Sachin and Shankar, also known as Shanri.

Police seized from the accused 1,055 pre-activated SIM cards, 15 mobile phones, four laptops, a computer, and a biometric device.

Cybercrime police booked the case against Manoj following a complaint filed by Shravana Kumar, who told the police that he noticed suspicious activity on Manoj's laptop while visiting his store, leading to doubts that he was involved in fraudulent activities.

Verifying Shravana's claim, police conducted a search of Manoj's store and busted the racket.

Manoj obtained vendor dealerships for Uber and Rapido, while his friend Sachin worked in the loan section of a finance firm. Shankar was a SIM card distributor at a telecom service provider.

The trio colluded to earn illicit profits, with Sachin providing documents of cab drivers and bikers who submitted their information for loans, and Shankar supplying pre-activated SIM cards.

They falsely claimed that these cars and bikes were actively engaged in trips by uploading the fabricated data to the aggregators.

Incentives were given to vendors and drivers upon completing a certain number of trips. To deceive the aggregators, they would generate cash payments for the cab and bike taxis.

Police inspector Hazaresh Killedar busted the racket under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) S D Sharanappa.

Modus operandi

The accused men assumed different roles as customers, drivers, and vendors. They used their phones to book trips, and a "driver" who was registered with the company under a different SIM card would accept the trip.

The system had a test feature that simulated the movement of the vehicle from the pickup point to the drop-off location. They would create the illusion of customers paying in cash.

When a driver completed 30 trips, they were eligible for around Rs 2,000 in incentives. The suspects took advantage of this opportunity to deceive the company. The drivers did not deposit the money with the company for their trips. Instead, they distributed the ill-gotten money amongst themselves.

An officer said the trio has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to cheating and forgery, as well as the Indian Telegraph Act and Information Technology Act.