Gujarat police have successfully dismantled a major cyber crime network, arresting 13 individuals connected to nearly a thousand cases of online financial fraud across India, involving losses of over Rs 631 crore.
Key Points
- Gujarat police arrested 13 individuals involved in a major cyber crime network.
- The network is linked to 982 cyber crimes across India, with victims losing over Rs 631 crore.
- Accused individuals used leaked databases and mule accounts to commit online financial fraud.
- The cyber frauds included internet banking, UPI, investment, and deposit-related scams.
- The investigation involved checking details of 45 bank accounts used for criminal activities.
Cyber police in Gujarat have arrested 13 persons for alleged involvement in as many as 982 cyber crimes reported across India in which victims lost a total of Rs 631.86 crore, an official said on Saturday.
Under 'Operation Mule Hunt 2.0,' these accused were arrested from Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Bharuch and Rajkot. With this action, the state's Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCE) busted a major cyber crime network, said Superintendent of Police Rajdeepsinh Zala.
Modus Operandi of the Cyber Criminals
The accused were arrested in connection with four different cases.
More than 200 FIRs were registered across the country in connection with these cyber crimes, SP Zala said.
One of the accused used leaked database available on Telegram groups to obtain bank customer IDs.
He would then obtain OTPs from these customers and hack their accounts. The money would be transferred to his mule accounts.
Types of Cyber Frauds Committed
Another arrested accused similarly used various firms to open mule accounts to commit frauds, Zala said.
The cyber frauds they committed were of different kinds, such as online financial fraud, internet banking-related fraud, UPI-related fraud, investment fraud and deposit fraud, the SP said.
Scale of the Cyber Crime Network
When the details of 45 bank accounts used by the accused for criminal activities were checked on the NCCRP portal, they were found to be involved in 982 cyber fraud complaints filed across the country, including 137 in Maharashtra, 126 in Karnataka, and 77 in Gujarat, police said.
