Delhi police have now busted a gang that was involved in stealing licenses of multiple export companies. The said gang obtained information on these licenses fraudulently. The police initiated an investigation after it received multiple complaints from garment export firms. These firms said that their licenses of duty on rebate on garment export had been stolen from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade website. They alleged that this license was transferred to multiple beneficiaries using a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) Keys. The accused gang made keys for more than 100 firms and licenses worth Rs. 3.4 crores which were sponged off from these legitimate license candidates.
These licenses made firms entitled to obtain benefits offered as incentives for the increasing inflow of foreign exchange and these incentives can be claimed by the exporter. What is noteworthy is that the entire process was shifted online to the Directorate’s website.
DCP (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy said-
“Based on the technical analysis, we have arrested seven people. One of the accused, a certified chartered accountant, who operates from Pune, was arrested from Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh while others are residents of Delhi-NCR”
The police informed that this gang operated throughout the country connected via Export-Import Bank Agents and around 107 instances of generating DSC key by wrong means were observed. The DCP further elaborated on the modus operandi of the gang. He said that the gang used the import-export code (IEC Code) of a firm to extract information about the company’s directors, activities, and due date. Using these details, the DSC Key was obtained.
"They used fake documents and during video verification, impersonated the company directors to get the key. The fraudulently obtained DSC key was used to log into the DGFT website and generate a rebate license. This license was then transferred to fictitious firms," he added.
In the digital age we live in, vulnerability to theft, and misuse of information has increase manifold. The union government recently announced that it is working on a robust data protection legislation. It is also the responsibility of users to make sure they don’t become prey to such predatory practices and maintain caution.
