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This is an archive article published on March 23, 2023
Seven held over illegal sale of data of 16.8 crore people through JustDial: Cyberabad police
Police found details of NEET aspirants, jobseekers, government staff, senior citizens, stock traders, WhatsApp and Facebook accounts, credit and debit cards and PAN cards, among others.
Police found details of NEET aspirants, 12 lakh CBSE Class 12 students, two crore students, 40 lakh jobseekers. (Representational Photo)
The Cyberabad police on Thursday busted a gang allegedly involved in the theft and sale of personal data of 16.8 crore people. Announcing the arrest of seven people, police commissioner Stephen Ravindra said the data was available in over 140 categories and included sensitive data of 2.55 lakh defence personnel, their ranks and locations.
Stating that the case has national security implications and needs further, thorough investigation, Ravindra said such data of defence and government employees could be used for impersonation as well as espionage and other serious offences that may jeopardise national security. “For now, the accused are booked under IPC sections. We will invoke the Official Secrets Act and the UAPA in the coming days,” the commissioner said.
Police found out that the gang operated through three companies—Data Mart Infotech, Global Data Arts, Inspire Digital, and MS Digital Grow. “This data is used for committing a crime. It was found to have been sold to 100 fraudsters. It needs to be investigated how this data was leaked or compromised,” said an officer, adding that police had been working on the case for two months. All the accused were arrested from Delhi.
The investigators found that data was being sold through JustDial and similar platforms. Whenever any individual or business contacts JustDial for any information, the query is listed and shared with the respective service providers. The fraudsters contact the clients and send them samples. The complete data is provided when the client makes the payment. “Data of 50,000 citizens were available for Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. Each of these firms was earning Rs 2 lakh every month,” an officer said.
The arrested people were identified as Kumar Nitish Bhushan, who set up a call centre in Noida for the fraud; tele-caller Kumari Pooja Pal; data entry operator Susheel Tomar; Atul Pratap Singh, who sold data through his company Inspire Digital; Muskan Hassan, who sold data through her company MS Digital Grow; Sandeep Pal, who sold data through his company Global Data Arts; and Zia-ur-Rahman, who worked with others and provided bulk messaging services for promotions.
Police found details of NEET aspirants, 12 lakh CBSE Class 12 students, two crore students, 40 lakh jobseekers, credit and debit card details of account holders with HSBC, Axis and other banks, a PAN card database, D-Mat account details and details 11 lakh government employees, 10.6 lakh senior citizens, 7 lakh stock traders, 40 lakh women etc. A database of 1.2 crore WhatsApp users and 17 lakh Facebook users was also available.
Police seized 12 mobile phones, three laptops and two CPUs.
The police commissioner said most organisations collected and sold individuals’ data with or without their consent or any data privacy or protection policy. “Legal action will be initiated against JustDial,” he said.
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