In a transnational cybercrime syndicate, the UT police have arrested 10 persons linked to a “digital arrest” scam involving CBI sleuth impersonation, crypto payments and SIM box technology.
The gang allegedly extorted over Rs 1 crore from a senior citizen in Chandigarh and is believed to be part of a broader Southeast Asia-based network.
In a complaint to the police, Manjeet, a resident of Sector 33-D and widow of Brigadier Amarjit Singh Behl, had stated that on July 11, she had received an automated voice call followed by a WhatsApp video call from a man posing as “CBI officer Sunil”.
Rs 36.98 lakh in various bank accounts frozen
A total of Rs 36.98 lakh has been frozen across the bank accounts of the suspects and will be recovered. The case details have been shared with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) for further cross-referencing with nationwide fraud cases.
— Geetanjali Khandelwal, SP (Cyber)
Claiming that her Aadhaar details were used to open a bank account involved in money laundering, the fraudster showed fake government documents and a passbook. Under fear and psychological pressure, Manjeet was coerced into transferring her entire life savings amounting to Rs 1,01,65,094 into multiple accounts claimed to be for ‘safe custody’. When she sensed that she was being defrauded, she contacted the police and an officer was appointed who recorded the digital arrest process as she continued to remain in contact to get some lead to recover money.
Analysis of call detail records (CDRs) and customer acquisition forms (CAFs) revealed that the mobile number was activated in Ludhiana, Punjab. Its associated IMEI number was linked to approximately 180 SIM activations, indicating systematic misuse of telecom infrastructure. Many of these SIMs were found to be operational in Meerut and Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. Another WhatsApp number was activated in Mizoram. The network included fraudulent telecom agents, SIM card sellers, mule operators and overseas handlers.
Modus operandi
The scam involved the use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls to impersonate agencies like TRAI, CBI, FedEx, etc. These calls were routed through SIM boxes—devices that disguise VoIP internet calls as local mobile calls. Fraudsters created video call set-ups of fake police stations to threaten victims. Indian youths were hired via Facebook and Telegram to operate these SIM boxes for fixed payments. The recruited individuals arranged local SIM cards, Internet and power backup, while remote handlers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Taiwan directed the operations via Telegram.
One of the arrested suspects, Parvez Chauhan, revealed that he earned 50 USDT per day for operating a SIM box in Meerut. Shubham Mehra alias Sunny, ran a hub in Amritsar and was caught with six Dinstar-brand SIM boxes (China-made) and around 400 SIM cards.
As far as the bulk SIMs used for the operation, the network used multiple customer identities to activate two SIMs per KYC—delivering only one to the actual customer while selling the other for illegal use.
Arrests and network chain
Parvez Chauhan (Meerut) was arrested first and he admitted to operating a SIM box under foreign instructions. Vijay Kumar Shah and Krishna Shah (Ludhiana) were POS agents selling illegally activated SIM cards. Suhail Akhtar and Shubham Mehra were involved in bulk SIM trading and active SIM box operations. Ajit Kumar, Saroj Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Vipin Kumar and Akash Kumar were arrested for sourcing and financing fraudulent SIMs.
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