Bengaluru cops crack investment scam; 8 held; assets worth Rs 6 crore seized

Bengaluru: A cybercrime gang, duping unsuspecting victims with false promises of high investment returns, has been busted by the Kengeri police.

Acting on a tip-off from an accomplice who had allegedly been mistreated by the gang, the police conducted coordinated raids across seven locations in the city on October 6, leading to the arrest of eight suspects.

Their identities have not yet been disclosed, as the investigation is ongoing.

During the operation, the police seized digital equipment and documents worth an estimated Rs 6 crore. The recovered items include 19 laptops, 40 mobile phones, 11 pen drives, 42 SIM cards, four iPads, two hard disks, five CPUs, three rubber seals, 10 memory cards, a currency counting machine, and several documents containing bank account details.

According to the investigators, the gang used messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, to lure victims with the promise of high returns on investments.

Once the targets were convinced, the suspects would send them malicious APK files that gave them remote access to the victims' phones and banking apps. The stolen funds were then transferred to mule bank accounts.

Following the arrests, the Kengeri police registered a fresh FIR and have launched efforts to identify and reach out to the victims of the fraud.