Six cyber fraudsters detained from four countries; Accounts were flagged in thirty cases worth more than Rs 100 crore | Pune News

Two separate FIRs were registered at the cybercrime police station of Pimpri Chinchwad police, in which two senior citizens were duped of Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.8 crore. While the investigation teams of the Cyber ​​Crime Police Station initiated an investigation into the mobile phone numbers and bank accounts used in the cases, they obtained leads about the locations of the suspects who acted as mule account holders as well as mule account handlers in these two cases. Different teams from the police station have been sent to Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and Mumbai.

Over the past three weeks, teams have arrested six cybercriminals in a coordinated operation. Details were shared with the media on Wednesday. All six suspects are currently in police custody. Police have identified the suspects as Mohammad Aamer Aqeel Mohammad Arif (35), a Hyderabad-based real estate dealer, Jigar Jitesh Patel (23), who works in a chartered accountant’s office in Mumbai, Ajith Vijayan (36), who runs a travel agency in Thiruvananthapuram, Sachin B Prakash (26), a security guard from Karnataka, and Mohammad Rehan Mohammad Tajamul (18), a bachelor’s student from Karnataka. Mysore and Mr. Awaiz Afnan Syed Shaukat, 20, a fruit seller from Mysore.

Investigations revealed that mule accounts registered in the name of some of these suspects and accounts managed by others as mule dealers witnessed fraudulent transactions worth more than Rs 100 crore. These accounts have been reported in at least 35 online fraud cases registered across the country including those in Mumbai, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala. “The accounts used and managed by Mohammad Aamer Aqeel Mohammad Arif have been flagged in a Rs 58-crore ‘digital arrest’ scam registered in Mumbai, the largest ever scam of its kind registered in the country so far,” said an officer part of the investigation.

Officials expressed concern that despite widespread awareness campaigns and sensitization efforts by the government and law enforcement agencies, incidents of digital arrest and online blackmail continue to be reported. These scams are usually carried out by cyber criminals impersonating officials from law enforcement agencies such as the police, Central Bank of India, Narcotics Department, Reserve Bank of India, Enforcement Directorate and judges.

These scams were serious enough to be reported at the highest levels, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat speech last year. As Express previously reported, these scams are coordinated by complex, multi-layered groups operating across borders with the lowest layers of fake accounts and account handlers operating from within India. Victims’ funds are often transferred to fake accounts and then routed to international cybercrime networks through cryptocurrency channels.