Credit card cheat held

The DN Nagar police arrested a salesman on Sunday for allegedly defrauding ICICI Bank to the tune of lakhs of rupees after conning credit card holders.

Rajesh Baburao Valluri, 22, would get hold of credit cards of ICICI customers on the pretext of upgrading them and share the card details with his fellow gang members, who would then buy railway and airline tickets.

A police source, on condition of anonymity, said, “With the help of salesmen like Valluri, the gang got hold of credit card numbers from various departmental stores, malls and clubs. They would jot the numbers down and then buy tickets to be sold to unsuspecting clients or agents for a fat sum.”

Since the customers had not made the purchases, ICICI Bank suffered huge losses. The bank filed a complaint with the DN Nagar police station last month, saying the gang had duped it for Rs3 lakh.

Valluri, who was working at The Club, opposite DN Nagar police station, allegedly admitted that he had passed on customer details to his gang members. He has been booked for cheating and criminal conspiracy. “Investigation has revealed that the gang had cheated many banks in Thane, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur using the same modus operandi,” said a police official. “We are now looking for Valluri’s associates.”