AHMEDABAD: In a breakthrough, the Gujarat Police Cyber Crime Cell, Surat, has arrested the alleged mastermind of an interstate cyber fraud racket that used fake data entry jobs, mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency transactions to siphon off crores of rupees.
The accused, identified as Lovely alias Sameer alias Ravi Arora, was traced to Chennai after an intensive technical surveillance operation and arrested by the cybercrime team.
Police said the accused was allegedly working with a Chinese-linked cyber fraud network and was responsible for providing mule bank accounts through which illegally obtained money was allegedly routed and converted into USDT before being moved to Dubai.
The investigation took a major turn after police recovered 14 mobile phones, three laptops and SIM cards from the accused’s Chennai residence.
Examination of the devices allegedly revealed details of 34 bank accounts, against which 113 cybercrime complaints have been registered across India, involving fraud of more than ₹33.14 crore.
33 lakh job seekers targeted
The racket, however, allegedly had another lucrative trap. According to Surat Cyber Crime DCP Vishakha Jain, the accused had access to data of more than 33 lakh job seekers, allegedly sourced from job-providing websites.
The data was then used to contact unemployed youths and lure them with promises of work-from-home data entry jobs. Call centres operating in different cities allegedly contacted prospective victims and offered them data entry work.
The victims were asked to pay around ₹5,000 on the pretext of registration, security or other job-related requirements. But once the money was collected, the promised job allegedly turned into another fraud.
Surat Cyber Crime DCP Vishakha Jain said the accused used a bogus software platform called ‘Care Compass’ for the data entry work. After victims completed the assigned work, they were allegedly told that their entries lacked the required “accuracy” and therefore they would not be paid.
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