The Western Region Cyber Police has exposed a high-profile online fraud and arrested six members of an inter-state cyber crime syndicate that posed as senior company officials to deceive corporate employees into transferring large sums of money.
The case came to light when, between April 12 and 15, a senior employee of a reputed company was contacted via WhatsApp by an individual claiming to be the company's director. Trusting the message, the employee transferred ₹1.93 crore to an ICICI Bank account. However, during the investigation, it was found that this bank account had already been flagged in 11 other complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Portal.
Acting swiftly on the complaint, DCP Purushottam Karad of the Cyber Cell directed a team led by Senior Inspector Suvarna Shinde of the Western Region Cyber Police to initiate a technical probe. The investigation led the police to multiple locations including Pune, Nashik, Goa, Mumbai, and Uttar Pradesh, from where six individuals were arrested in a coordinated operation.
The arrested accused were not only involved in opening fake bank accounts but were also found to be using fraudulent SIM cards and stealing internet banking credentials. These details were allegedly shared with cyber criminals operating from abroad, including China. According to investigators, some members of the syndicate were involved in converting stolen funds into cryptocurrency and foreign currency as part of a larger money laundering racket.
During the raids, the police recovered 28 mobile phones, a laptop, 16 SIM cards, several cheque books and debit cards, one pistol, and four live cartridges. The extent of the gang’s operations points to a much wider cyber fraud network, and further investigations are underway to identify other potential collaborators in India and overseas.