New Delhi, October 30The Delhi Police conducted the sixth edition of its intelligence-led crackdown on cyber criminals, Operation CyHawk 6.0. All 15 districts, the Crime Branch (Cyber) and the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit took part. 4,979 suspects were detained or rounded up for verification across Delhi, said police. The operation went beyond the individual fraudster. Teams targeted the people who supply bank accounts, SIM cards and payment infrastructure to fraud networks, along with those who run call centres and launder proceeds through cash and cryptocurrency. With CyHawk 6.0, arrests across the six editions of the operation now exceed 3,300.The officials stated that FIRs rose by about 24%, NCRP complaints worked out by about 46%, and action in complaints from outside Delhi by about 57%. This reflects a deliberate shift from mass verification towards targeted, evidence-backed action against the networks behind the fraud.Around 283 police teams pursued accused across 17 States and 5 UTs.The teams went outstation during CyHawk 6.0, conducting raids, technical and local surveillance and arrests across at least 17 States and 5 Union Territories — from Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south to Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in the north, and from Gujarat and Maharashtra to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha in the east.These visits produced some of the operation’s most significant arrests, including a Jamtara-linked Credit Card syndicate trapped in Dhanbad, a matrimonial fraud gang from Durg-Bhilai, mule-account suppliers in Kanpur and Greater Noida, and account facilitators in Mumbai, Lucknow, Rajasthan and Punjab.During CyHawk 6.0, Districts and specialised Units went beyond the immediate fraud. They followed individual complaints and suspect mule accounts back to the organised networks behind them. South-West and North Districts traced money trails across several layers of bank accounts. This exposed inter-state syndicates that set up fake firms to open current accounts and supplied them to cyber fraudsters for commission. Outer-North, Outer and Dwarka Districts dismantled local mule-account networks.North-West District arrested bank officials who had allegedly helped open mule accounts. South District arrested service-agency insiders who misused customer data. Outer-North District also busted a network that fraudulently obtained SIM cards in other people’s names.The fraudulent mobile apps and phishing messages (South-West), fake KYC calls (Shahdara), impersonation of corporate executives, officials and payment-company staff (Central, Shahdara and South-East) online shopping, investment and matrimonial frauds (North, Central, North-East and Rohini), loan-app sextortion (Outer). South District also acted on Cyber Tipline inputs relating to child sexual abuse material. Proceeds of crime were recovered as cash, gold, vehicles and frozen cryptocurrency, notably by Central, North-West, South and South-West Districts. Through Crime Branch, IFSO, South-West and Outer-North, many of these cases were linked to hundreds of complaints across the country, closing cases for victims well beyond Delhi.The operation also struck hard at the infrastructure behind organised fraud. Dwarka, South-West and East Districts dismantled illegal call centres that ran impersonation, fake-business and extortion scams against citizens and traders nationwide. One of these, busted by East District, was run from a moving vehicle to evade location tracing. The IFSO Unit of the Special Cell seized SIM boxes used to place bulk fraudulent calls. It also took down fraudulent investment links and Telegram channels dealing in cryptocurrency, eSIMs and bank accounts. Cyber fraud is an organized supply chain, not the work of a lone caller. CyHawk 6.0 showed that each fraud relies on a chain of enablers, and Delhi Police is now targeting every link in that chain rather than only the person who makes the call.Account suppliers and mules — people who open or rent out bank accounts, often under fake firms, for a monthly payment or a 2–3% commission.Insider facilitators — bank staff and agency employees who open accounts without the holder present or misuse customer data, as seen in action taken by North-West and South Districts.SIM and PoS agents — retailers who issue extra SIM cards in customers’ names, and SIM boxes that route bulk calls.Call centres and app operators — the front end that contacts victims through calls, social media, fake apps and phishing SMSs.Cash-out and laundering — ATM and cheque withdrawals, purchase of gold, and conversion to USDT cryptocurrency, often ending with handlers abroad. Targets for CyHawk 6.0 were selected through analysis, not chance. Delhi Police combined several data sources to identify the accounts, numbers and people most connected to reported fraud: I4C, MHA inputs, including suspect lists and trends from complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).Samanvaya portal data to link mule accounts and suspects in Delhi with complaints filed anywhere in India — the main reason complaints worked out from other States rose by 57%. Pratibimb portal mapping of the locations of mobile numbers used in cybercrime, to direct field teams to active hotspots.Hotspot data of mule accounts and bank branches, suspect callers, SIM boxes and PoS agents, used to plan raids by District. Banking analytics, including IFSO’s in-house software that identifies bank accounts and IFSC codes common across many complaint datasets; it will soon be shared with Cyber Police Stations and Districts.IFSO also convened a coordination meeting with banks, payment gateways, telecom service providers and IT intermediaries, attended by over 70 participants, to speed up information sharing in cases of digital arrest and NBFC-related fraud.1,732 persons arrested or bound down (944 arrests + 788 bound down), and notices served on 2,081 more — 3,813 persons dealt with in all. 1,032 FIRs actioned: 596 new FIRs, 432 old cases and 4 Kalandras. 4,002 NCRP complaints linked (727 from Delhi, 3,275 from other States/UTs), involving a cheated amount of about ₹479.14 crore. 283 police teams travelled to at least 17 States and 5 Union Territories to trace accused persons.Major seizures: 1,037 mobile phones,1,301 SIM cards, 106 laptops/computers, 397 ATM cards, 244+ bankkits/passbooks, 325 Aadhaar cards, 6 SIM boxes, 11 cars, 10 two-wheelers,₹37.67 lakh cash, gold and cryptocurrency (USDT
Click Here For The Original Source.
——————————————————–
