Jamshedpur: Cybercriminals in Jharkhand are resorting to identity theft with impunity, going beyond bank frauds and OTP scams to misuse personal documents for large-scale financial fraud. In a recent incident, fraudsters allegedly siphoned off nearly Rs 26 lakh by raising multiple loans using the stolen identity of a businessman from Dhanbad district.
The victim, Chandraprakash Sharma, a resident of Rajganj in Dhanbad, discovered that his Aadhaar and PAN cards had been cloned, with the fraudsters replacing his photograph with their own. Using these forged documents, the accused showed Siddharth Apartment in Bistupur, Jamshedpur, as their residential address and successfully secured vehicle and personal loans from several reputed finance companies.
Investigations revealed that loans worth Rs 14.66 lakh were taken from Chola Investment as a vehicle loan, Rs 5.50 lakh from Indostar for a commercial vehicle, Rs 4.89 lakh from Poonawalla Fincorp as a car loan, and Rs 84,000 from L&T Finance for a two-wheeler. Attempts were also made to obtain loans from seven other financial institutions.
The fraud came to light when recovery agents began contacting the real Chandraprakash Sharma over non-payment of EMIs. Alarmed by repeated calls, Sharma checked his CIBIL score and was stunned to find multiple loans registered in his name from Jamshedpur—transactions he did not know of.
The incident has raised serious questions about the verification and security mechanisms of financial institutions. Concerns have been flagged over lapses in KYC procedures, face-matching software, and address verification.
It remains unclear whether any physical verification was conducted or if local confirmation from apartment guards or neighbours was sought. The victim alleged that pressure to meet targets and earn commissions may have led to gross negligence by finance companies, damaging his financial credibility built over the years.
Police have launched an investigation and are tracking the cybercriminals using vehicle registration details, loan documents, and the Jamshedpur address used in the fraud.
