An Indian student used forged identity documents to procure credit cards in Australia which were then used to carry out fraudulent transactions worth $600,000 in India, the police in India is alleging.
Two men were arrested in Noida, in India’s national capital region, on Saturday for allegedly cheating financial service provider American Express.
Police said an Indian national who is currently on a student visa in Australia used fraudulent identity documents to obtain American Express cards and sent those to his brother in India.
Investigators say the Indian student used his own photograph every time he applied for a new card but would use a different name.
They say the total dollar value of the alleged fraudulent transactions could stretch to $1 million.
“They bought gold and jewelry using these cards and then sold those items for cash,” Rajveer Singh Chauhan, the station house officer of Sector 20 police station in Noida told SBS Punjabi.
“In the last one month alone, they spend is about Rs. 1 crore ($200,000) and this has been going on for six-seven months. They also used these cards to make several online purchases,” Mr Chauhan said.
He said several forged identity documents were also recovered from the arrested men.
The arrests were made after officials at American Express in India complained to the police about suspected fraud.
While the arrested men are in the police custody and are being questioned, investigators say they will approach India’s External Affairs ministry to get the Australia visa of the third accused cancelled and get him to join the investigation.
Jon Steward, the vice president Corporate affairs at American Express, Australia told SBS Punjabi that the matter was being investigated but declined to comment any further.
