Representative image of arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: In a major bust, the cybercrime police from the city’s northeast division arrested four people recently for running an online part-time job scam, police officials said Tuesday. The arrests have revealed 305 cases across the country, in which the victims were conned of an estimated Rs 40 crore.
The arrested were Sayyad Younus Fazil alias Mudassir bin Sayyad Aijaz Pasha, 31; Mohammed Kaleemullah, 35; Sayyad Arbaz, 24; and Ibrahim Karnool, 36. Pasha hailed from Chikkaballapur’s Sidlaghatta and stayed in Bengaluru’s RT Nagar. Kaleemullah and Arbaz were residents of Bharathi Nagar and Kaveri Nagar, respectively. Karnool, who hailed from Bagalkote, stayed in Frazer Town.
A source in the city police said that the gang operated from May this year. They said that Pasha, who is a Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) graduate, worked in the banking sector and was in the silk trade; Kaleemullah, an SSLC pass out, worked at a medical shop and was an autorickshaw driver; Arbaz studied till Class 9 and was an autorickshaw driver; and Karnool was an ITI Diploma holder and worked at Just Dial and dealt sim cards sales.
“Another person in Mumbai is suspected to be involved with the gang,” a police officer told DH, adding that he was yet to be identified. "We are verifying on a case-by-case basis to know the number of cases in the city.”
30 mule accounts frozen
During the probe, the cybercrime investigators found that the suspects had operated 30 mule accounts to launder the proceeds of the crime. Mule accounts are those bank accounts that receive money from a third party, which is then transferred to someone else.
All 30 accounts were frozen, the police said.
“The suspects paid around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 to some to get the bank accounts opened to be used as mules,” the source quoted previously said.
From the suspects, the police seized four mobile phones, two bank passbooks, six debit cards and sim cards, a biometric scanner and two company seals.