Cyber fraud busted: Six arrested for Rs 2 crore scam in single day

Mangaluru: The City CEN police have arrested six individuals, including five in Hyderabad and one in Mangaluru, for allegedly operating a large-scale cyber fraud network.

Explaining the case, Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy CH said that the police team has arrested a group of accused operating from Hyderabad and acting as agents to provide mule accounts to cyber fraudsters operating from abroad.

He said a case was registered at CEN station in which complainant Mohammed Iqbal, a resident of Bunder stated that his friend Ibrahim had requested him to provide his current bank account for business purposes. Trusting him, the complainant handed over his bank passbook, ATM card, cheque book, and an Airtel SIM card linked to the account. However, the bank account was allegedly misused and a case was registered at CEN station.

Following the complaint, the CEN police registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, along with relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.

The commissioner of police said during investigation, police collected and analysed technical evidence and discovered that a cyber fraud gang was operating from Hyderabad. A special team rushed to Hyderabad, tracked down the network, and arrested five persons there, while one was apprehended in Mangaluru.

The arrested are Sheikh Kareemulla alias Rasool (27), resident of Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, Budidinne Vamshi alias Guru (21), resident of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, Panditi Kranthi Kumar (36), resident of Hyderabad, Telangana, Ibrahim (35), resident of Mulki, Mangaluru, Bade Srinivas (38), resident of Hyderabad, Telangana and Utpala Santosh Krishna (35), resident of Nellore.

The police have recovered 18 mobile phones, one laptop, 12 SIM cards, 15 cheque books, 12 bank passbooks and 18 debit cards from the arrested.

Explaining the modus operandi of the arrested, Sudheer Kumar Reddy said the investigation has revealed that the arrested used social media platforms to post attractive advertisements, promising four to six per cent commission to bank account holders. Unsuspecting individuals were persuaded to share complete bank details and OTPs. These details were then forwarded to cyber fraudsters operating from abroad.

He said that one of the bank accounts involved in the case had about five complaints registered against it on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) across the country.

Further analysis of the seized mobile phones and laptop revealed details of 72 bank accounts. Of these, 30 accounts had more than 272 complaints registered on the NCRP portal nationwide.

According to preliminary investigation, on February 26, the cyber fraud network transacted over Rs two crore in a single day. The police are continuing investigations into the financial transactions and other cases linked to the bank accounts used for the fraud, he added.