Jaipur: Bursting a large interstate gang of cybercriminals in Rajasthan, the Cyber Crime Police of Jaipur has arrested 17 cyber fraudsters. The accused duped a company accountant by using the company chairman's name and photo on WhatsApp, thereby inducing him to transfer ₹5.30 crore into various bank accounts.
The accountent Dipendra Singh working for Galaxy Mining Company told the police in his complaint that he received a message from a different WhatsApp number—bearing the name and photo of the company owner—directing him to make immediate payments into two separate bank accounts. Following the message, he transferred ₹5.30 crore but later found that it was a cyber fraud.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Cyber Crime Police Headquarters, Shantanu Kumar Singh said that a technical analysis of the bank accounts revealed that the defrauded amount was routed through multiple bank accounts and subsequently siphoned off through cash withdrawals, USDT (a cryptocurrency) transfers, and the 'Hawala' system.
The police have nabbed 17 accused from Kota, Pali, Banswara, Jodhpur, and Barmer. This group includes those who provided the bank accounts used for the fraud, withdrew cash, commission agents, and individuals involved in transferring funds via cryptocurrency.
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“The accused include a law student, salon employees, and even an auto parts shopkeeper who used to meet at tea shops or roadside stalls to facilitate the bank accounts, passbooks, checkbooks, and debit cards, and to distribute the commissions,“ said DIG.
The investigation revealed that members of the gang would open bank accounts and provide them to cyber fraudsters for a commission of ₹3,000 to ₹50,000. While some accused withdrew the fraudulent funds and delivered them directly to the cybercriminals, others utilized the money to purchase USDT, thereby attempting to obscure the financial trail of the transactions.
