UP police bust int’l cyber fraud racket; 12 held across 7 states

Agra: In a major cybercrime crackdown, Aligarh Police on Saturday busted an international investment fraud racket that had already cheated victims of crores and was on the verge of defrauding nearly 1.5 lakh people of around Rs 500 crore. Acting with support from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) — an initiative of the Union home ministry to tackle cybercrime — police arrested 12 accused in coordinated raids across seven states and shut down more than 600 fake WhatsApp investment groups, SP (rural) Amrit Jain said.Police said the gang lured people with promises of returns of up to 200% through fake share market investment schemes. Investigators said the network had international links, with money routed through Indian mule bank accounts, converted into USDT cryptocurrency, and traced to IP addresses in Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong.The case came to light after Dinesh Kumar Sharma, a resident of Swarn Jayanti Nagar in Aligarh and a retired deputy general manager of Punjab National Bank, filed a complaint. He told police that fraudsters contacted him via WhatsApp in Nov, initially promising returns of 35–40%. In Dec, he was persuaded to invest Rs 5,000 and was later added to WhatsApp groups named "VIP Profit Club", where so-called experts shared fake screenshots and videos showing massive profits.Tempted by assurances of returns of up to 200%, Sharma invested a total of Rs 1.10 crore in multiple instalments but received no returns. When he questioned the delay, the fraudsters assigned new "tasks" and later pressured him to invest Rs 3 crore. Suspecting fraud, he informed his family and lodged a complaint on Jan 31.SP Jain said police are coordinating with the CBI and Interpol to track the gang leaders operating from abroad. "Investigations revealed that investors were about to be defrauded of Rs 500 crore within the next 48 hours. Police made personal calls to more than 500 people to alert them and prevent further losses," he added.Police said a case was registered at the cyber police station based on Sharma's complaint. Under the supervision of cyber crime circle officer (CO) Sanjana Singh, in-charge inspector B D Pandey and the cyber cell team, five teams were formed, and arrests were made across seven states. Of those arrested, four are from Odisha, three from Uttar Pradesh, two from Uttarakhand, and one each from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Haryana.Police said a case has been registered under BNS sections 111(4) (member of organised crime syndicate), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 340 (using forged document or electronic record as genuine), 336 (forgery), 318(4) (cheating), and section 66 of the IT Act. SSP Neeraj Kumar Jadaun has announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the team involved in cracking the case.