Delhi Police bust pan-India cyber fraud racket run by Dubai-based kingpin

The Delhi Police Crime Branch has dismantled a nationwide cyber fraud network allegedly operated by a Dubaibased Indian mastermind arresting five individuals including a bank relationship manager for aiding in fraudulent financial transactions news agency PTI reported quoting officials on FridayAccording to the police the syndicate ran fake firms and opened multiple current accounts to launder money defrauded from victims across at least 12 statesldquoThe accused earned a commission of Rs 15 lakh for every bank account opened to facilitate the racketrdquo the police said in a statementThe arrested individuals mdash Manjeet Singh 28 Manshvi 23 Manish Mehra 33 Sombir 43 and Anup 35 mdash were nabbed from Delhi Gurugram and Hisar during coordinated raids after their locations were traced through digital surveillance PTI reportedAn investigation into an efirst information report FIR filed in June revealed that the group was acting under the instructions of a Dubaibased handler identified as Tom Anup who is a bank official allegedly helped open fake current accounts and leaked internal alerts from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal NCRP to the syndicate to prevent account freezingThe other accused managed the fake firms maintained ledgers and coordinated financial transactions PTI reported During interrogation they reportedly confessed to creating three fake companies and opening eight bank accounts to route the defrauded fundsThe laundered money was later converted into cryptocurrency USD Tether USDT to conceal its trail and transfer it overseasThe police have recovered 18 mobile phones one laptop containing cryptocurrency wallet data 36 SIM cards several cheque books and bank statements from the accusedDeputy Commissioner of Police Crime Branch Aditya Gautam said the seized documents are linked to 52 cyber fraud cases reported across Tamil Nadu Karnataka Goa Maharashtra Telangana Andhra Pradesh Odisha Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Punjab Gujarat Kerala and HaryanaFurther investigation is underway to trace the money trail and identify the overseas handlers involved in the operationTwo members of cybercrime gang held after retired Mumbai bank employee loses Rs 505 lakhMumbai Cyber Police North Region have arrested two active members of a cybercrime gang that posed as senior cops and extorted large sums of money from senior citizens by fabricating false money laundering cases and arrest threatsOn October 9 the Mumbai Cyber Police registered following a complaint filed by a retired bank employee who lost around Rs 5050 lakh in a digital arrest fraudAccording to a police officer the fraud occurred between September 11 and 24 One of the arrested men allegedly contacted the complainant through WhatsApp and video calls posing as a Nashik Police officer He falsely accused the victim of being involved in a money laundering case claiming that funds in his bank account were being used for illegal activitiesSpeaking on the fraud a police officer said To make the allegations seem genuine the fraudster sent forged documents via WhatsApp including letters bearing official seals the victimrsquos name Aadhaar number a fake first information report FIR and even a counterfeit Indian Police Service IPS officer identity card The complainant and his wife were allegedly threatened with immediate arrest and told that they were under surveillanceUnder the pretext of verifying their bank details the accused extracted sensitive financial information and tricked the complainant into transferring Rs 5050 lakh to multiple accountsWith PTI inputs