Mumbai Police's cyber cell gets fraudsters deported from Dubai

Between January and October, 61 cases of customs and gift fraud were reported in the city. Representation pic

An increase in incidents of courier fraud in Mumbai and other metro cities prompted the Mumbai cyber cell to collaborate with authorities in Dubai to nab the masterminds. With the assistance of relevant agencies, two individuals linked with such fraud cases have been deported to India. The cyber cell discovered that these individuals, who are Indian nationals and highly qualified engineers, were orchestrating courier frauds from Dubai. They deceived numerous citizens, converting the fraudulently obtained money into cryptocurrency. One of their accounts, linked to Nasik, has seen transactions amounting to more than Rs 2 crore in the past few months.

According to city police data, between January and October, 61 cases of customs and gift fraud were reported in the city. Of these, 15 cases are being investigated by cyber cell wherein the amount is above Rs 10 lakh.

According to the cyber cell, a case was registered earlier this year by a 34-year-old homemaker who received a call from an unknown number claiming that one parcel in her name was being sent to Taiwan. The victim stated that she hadn't sent any parcel to Taiwan. However, the caller, claiming to be Sub-Inspector Naresh Gupta from Andheri police station, shared his identity card and insisted that the parcel was being sent in her name and contained drugs. The impersonator threatened her, stating that she would face an investigation and later asked for details of her bank account.

The woman shared her banking details with the fraudsters impersonating police officers. Later, she was told that the CBI was also investigating the case and some letters related to the CBI investigation were shared on her WhatsApp, causing the victim to panic. She received another call from Gupta, instructing her to transfer some amount to the accounts he provided, assuring her that she would get her money back after her account verification was done. The victim was told that the Rs 15 lakh in her account was linked to money laundering. After transferring the amount in two transactions, the fraudster disappeared and didn't respond to calls. Subsequently, the victim filed a complaint with the cyber cell.

The cyber cell, investigating the matter for months, arrested the first accused from Nashik, whose accounts were used to transfer the money. An officer of the cyber cell said, "During the course of the investigation, we found that he had five different accounts and one had transactions amounting to Rs 2-3 crore in the past few months."

Further investigations revealed that two suspects operating from Dubai were behind the scam, and under their instruction, the accused arrested from Nasik had opened the accounts. The officials then issued a lookout circular (LoC) against the two suspects who were deported back to India last month due to the continuous efforts of the Mumbai crime branch's cyber cell.

Both accused were deported to India last month and were arrested at Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports. An officer from the cyber cell stated, "We suspect that there are others involved in the case currently staying in Dubai and it also appears that the same people are involved in multiple cases of courier fraud."

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