Scammers used Dhoni, Sachin's PAN details to get credit cards: How to save yourself from this fraud

In a shocking incident of fraud, some fraudsters allegedly used fake pan card, aadhaar details of various celebrities including MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Hritik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit to dupe banks by over Rs 50 lakh.

As per police report, a group of fraudsters allegedly procured PAN details of Bollywood actors and cricketers from their GST Identification Numbers available online, and got credit cards issued in their names from Pune-based fintech startup 'One Card'.

"The accused allegedly duped banks of over Rs 50 lakh by fraudulently using details of celebrities like MS Dhoni, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar, Saif Ali Khan, Hritik Roshan, Alia Bhatt, Shilpa Shetty, Emraan Hashmi and others," DCP Shahdara Rohit Meena said.


How fraudsters used celebrities details for fraud:
The fraudsters got GST details and date of birth of celebrities from Google. The first two digits of GSTIN are state code and the next 10 digits are PAN number.

After getting these two details, they applied for a new PAN card by fraudulently putting their own pictures on it so that during video verification, their looks match with the photo available on PAN/Aadhaar card.

For instance, the PAN card of Abhishek Bachchan had his PAN and date of birth but a picture of one of the accused. Similarly, they followed the same procedure to forge the Aadhaar details. After getting new PAN and aadhaar, the fraudsters applied for new credit cards from Pune-based fintech startup 'One Card'.

Fraudsters also allegedly took out several financial details and transactions through CIBIL report.

In order to stop misuse of your PAN you should follow these safety steps:
* Keep checking your Cibil score and income tax Form 26A to know or report any transaction not done by you.
* Only use PAN card where it is required. Instead use other identification documents like driver’s licenses, voter ID cards, and Aadhar cards.
* Don’t enter your date of birth on insecure online portals. This information can be used to locate your PAN number on the Income Tax website.
* Always check https in the url to know whether its safe or not.
* When submitting PAN copy, write the date along with your signature and mention the reason behind the submission.
* Be careful when you are sharing PAN photocopies to any organisation.
* De-link your Aadhar card from your bank accounts as it is no longer required.

(Inputs from PTI)