Cybercrime kingpins exploit social media to recruit local accomplices: Probe

In at least two recent cases probed by the Bengaluru City police and the CID, investigators found that some of the arrested suspects were recruited by handlers located in southeast Asian countries through groups and pages on social media platforms and messenger apps posing to be genuine businesses.

Bengaluru: Cybercrime syndicates in foreign countries are exploiting social media platforms and messenger applications to recruit accomplices in India, police investigations have revealed.

In at least two recent cases probed by the Bengaluru City police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), investigators found that some of the arrested suspects were recruited by handlers located in southeast Asian countries through groups and pages on social media platforms and messenger apps posing to be genuine businesses, two senior officers told DH.

All this was done without initially revealing to the potential accomplices that they were being made part of a transactional cybercrime syndicate.

"The cybercriminals post business opportunities through these groups and social media ads," explained a senior CID officer. "They use terms like 'business partner', 'serious candidates only' and 'long-term partnership' to make it look like they were genuine businessmen."

Once the online contact is initiated, the kingpin or the handler entrusts their potential accomplices with operating the network of mule accounts — used to launder money — 'renting' the bank accounts of individuals in remote areas and contacting individuals to buy the entire bank account kit, along with the passbook, debit card, etc.

These bank accounts will be used by the scamsters to transfer money in multiple layers and obscure the trail. The local accomplices are also entrusted with contacting peer-to-peer cryptocurrency vendors, giving them the proceeds of the crime in cash, and receiving the cryptocurrency, which will be sent to the foreign handlers through wallets making them extremely difficult to trace.

In a case in September 2024, where North Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) crime police arrested 10 people involved in an online job fraud, a key suspect had told the police during interrogation that he met the supposed kingpin through one of the messenger applications, who brought him into the scam for a commission — Rs 10,000 for every 1 crore of transaction. He then recruited others before their arrest.

"They are lured with commission and goodies like iPhones and electronics," the second senior police officer said.

The officer quoted a cybercrime case chargesheeted by the CID in 2024 where the foreign handler had made his accomplices in Karnataka float a shell company in their name.

"The kingpin, who was found to be from China, used his three local accomplices to register a company in India. Everything was in the name of the local accomplices, including company registration and rental agreement. The local accomplices continued operating the company and recruiting employees, all while being part of cybercrimes. However, when the arrests happened and charges were being framed, there was no single evidence to link the suspect from China, who floated the company in the first place," the officer said.

Investigators also found that in several cases the current accounts which were used to receive the proceeds of crimes were opened by locals — who had no idea of the offence — at the behest of the handlers following contact on messenger applications.    

The senior officers said that in many cases social media intermediaries didn’t comply with the requests from the law enforcement agencies. 

"When the requests involve a foreign national suspect, no response is given," one of the officers quoted above said. "Even when nodal officers write to social media intermediaries to remove the suspicious groups or pages, it is seldom heeded. By the time the nodal officers get through the red tape, the cybercriminals themselves set up other groups and pages. We need stricter laws and better Centre-State coordination."