Explained: How 65 cyber thugs caught in Nuh, cheated 28,000 people of staggering Rs 100 crore

In a recent development, a staggering number of 65 cyber thugs have been caught in the Nuh region, who have made 28 thousand people their victims across the country, cheating them of a whopping Rs 100 crore. This revelation came to light during their interrogation while in police remand. What's more, the names of an additional 250 criminals have also surfaced, and the police are continuously raiding to apprehend them.

On the night of April 27th and the morning of April 28th, a massive operation was launched, with five thousand police personnel forming 102 teams and raiding 14 villages in Nuh together. As per navbharattimes, the police detained 125 suspected cyber thugs for questioning, out of which 66 were identified, and 16 cases were registered against them. The identified criminals were taken on police remand for seven to 11 days from the court.

SP Nuh Varun Singla, in a recent press conference on Wednesday, disclosed that cybercriminals involved in a massive cyber fraud scheme utilized a variety of deceitful tactics. These tactics included the use of counterfeit SIM cards, Aadhaar cards, and the deposit of ill-gotten gains into bogus bank accounts, all with the aim of swindling people across the entire country. Their nefarious activities were not limited to a particular region, as they targeted people from Delhi's NCR region all the way to Andaman-Nicobar. Upon their arrest, it was discovered that the cyber fraudsters were responsible for a staggering 28,000 cases of cyber fraud across the country.

During the police remand, DGP PK Aggarwal set up a team of 40 cyber experts hailing from various regions to conduct a comprehensive interrogation. They delved into the modus operandi for cyber frauds, the sources of fake SIMs and bank accounts, as well as examining the mobile phones and SIM cards seized during the raid. The interrogation also sought information related to TSP, ISP, Bank, NPCI, UPI UIDAI, DoT, Facebook, WhatsApp, OLX, and other social media platforms.

The integration of fake bank accounts, SIMs, and mobile phones by cybercriminals was suggested to be correlated with cybercrime complaints that have been reported nationwide. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs was engaged to provide aid for this mission. As a result of this scrutiny, it was discovered that the cybercriminals had succeeded in deceiving vulnerable individuals from 35 states and union territories throughout the country, thereby accumulating over Rs 100 crore in the process. As a consequence, the captured fraudsters have already had 1346 FIRs registered against them.

Upon further inquiry, 219 accounts of both private and public sector banks as well as 140 UPI accounts were revealed to be implicated in cyber fraud. These bank accounts were notably active online, and job offers were employed as a guise to swindle unsuspecting individuals through Aadhar card, PAN card, mobile number, and online KYC verification. Furthermore, 347 SIM cards were identified as having been activated from telecom companies' circles in Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, North East, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The source of these fraudulent SIMs and bank accounts was primarily traced to Bharatpur district in Rajasthan.

Furthermore, additional investigation found that the cybercriminals worked in groups of 3-4 people, with each group offering technical services such as counterfeit bank accounts, SIM cards, mobile phones, cash withdrawal/delivery, and posting ads on social media websites. These services were provided in exchange for commission charges that ranged from 5 percent to 50 percent of the fraudulent amount. The cybercriminals primarily used common service centers to withdraw cash, while some others utilized ATMs situated in different villages.

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