New Delhi, 14 August (H.S.):
The Delhi Police Cyber Police Station has busted a China-linked cyber fraud syndicate allegedly involved in duping people under the pretext of work-from-home tasks, arresting four accused from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Those arrested include a person who provided bank accounts, an account operator, an agent and an account holder.
According to the Delhi Police, the accused allegedly supplied mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters based in China. The proceeds of fraud were routed through multiple bank accounts before being converted into cryptocurrency in an attempt to conceal the source of the money. Police recovered nine bank passbooks, five SIM cards, six mobile phones and a register containing records of commission payments.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West Delhi) Amit Goel said on Friday that a case of cyber fraud was registered at the Cyber Police Station on July 17. The complainant told police that he had received a work-from-home job offer involving tasks through Telegram. The accused initially asked him to deposit a security amount to undertake the online assignments. When the victim attempted to withdraw his purported earnings, the accused gave him various excuses and persuaded him to deposit additional amounts. As a result, the victim was allegedly duped into losing a total of Rs 12 lakh.
Considering the seriousness of the case, a team comprising Sub-Inspector Chetan Rana, Head Constable Vijaypal and Head Constable Manendra was formed. Technical investigation revealed that the IP addresses associated with the Telegram ID used in the fraud were being traced to China. Examination of the money trail showed that a portion of the defrauded funds had been transferred to a bank account belonging to Gagan Yadav, whose account details had been provided to the victim by the fraudsters operating from China.
Based on technical surveillance, police arrested Geetam Singh, who was operating in Gurugram. A BBA graduate and a resident of Meerut, Geetam was found in possession of three mobile phones. During interrogation, he allegedly revealed that he supplied mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters based in China and converted the proceeds of fraud into cryptocurrency. Examination of his mobile phone, WhatsApp and Telegram chats also revealed direct communication with the China-based cyber fraudsters.
Following Geetam's disclosures, police arrested 21-year-old Dhruv from Ghaziabad. A B.Com graduate from Etawah, Dhruv was allegedly found in possession of nine passbooks belonging to different account holders, five SIM cards, a mobile phone and a register containing records of commissions received for providing bank accounts.
During interrogation, Dhruv allegedly revealed that Anuj Sharma had helped facilitate the opening of Gagan Yadav's bank account. The SIM card linked to the account was also registered in Anuj's name. Police subsequently arrested 27-year-old Anuj Sharma from Noida. He is a resident of Etawah and an MBA graduate. Investigators recovered incriminating chats from his mobile phone relating to commission payments.
Police then conducted a raid in Etawah and arrested 26-year-old Gagan Yadav. During interrogation, he allegedly admitted to providing his bank account to the syndicate in exchange for a commission.
The investigation revealed that the China-based fraudsters lured people through Telegram with attractive work-from-home task offers. Victims were initially asked to deposit a security amount and were subsequently persuaded to transfer increasingly larger sums with promises of higher returns. The accused allegedly facilitated the provision of bank accounts and SIM cards, routed the proceeds of fraud through multiple accounts, collected commissions and converted the money into cryptocurrency.
Police are now working to identify and apprehend other members of the syndicate, trace the defrauded funds and uncover individuals linked to its international network.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
