Chandigarh Police has arrested 4 accused, Adesh Kumar, Tanveer Khan and Wazid of Ghaziabad, and Mahfooz Alam of Mayur Vihar in a major bust. The scam is operated by a Dubai-based syndicate and the arrests have put a stop to their illegal activities.
The Arrests came after a Chandigarh-based police officer filed a complaint, highlighting the modus operandi in March 2023. The officer himself fell prey to the scam unknowingly. The victim received a notification on her mobile from an app called ‘Real Money’. Intrigued by the opportunity to earn some extra money, she downloaded the app and was granted access to her bank details.
This led to an unauthorised transfer of Rs 1800. The officer tried to rectify the situation by requesting a refund but the app wouldn’t allow it. After this, she was relentlessly harassed by waves of messages and calls demanding repayment through various other loan applications.
The scammers had gained access to the victim’s contact list and gallery, continuously threatening to send morphed obscene photos to her contacts. Frightened, the victim succumbed to the threats and ended up transferring around Rs 43.8 lakh to multiple bank accounts associated with the scam through UPI payments. She has claimed she also received an amount through these loan apps, making the situation even worse and confusing.
After months of investigation, bank records, technical surveillance, and tip-offs finally paid off leading to the arrest of 4 accused. Notably, Khan and Wazid had previous encounters with the law due to cybercrime fraud.
The investigation revealed that Wazid was the mastermind behind the control of bank accounts that were used in the scams. He was responsible for creating shell companies using the identities of his associates and opening bank accounts in their names. These are the accounts that were used for receiving money from the victims.
Mahfooz Alam who was working as a middleman was responsible for forwarding the sim cards and account details to other members of the syndicate through encrypted messaging service. Alam also received a portion after the transaction exceeds Rs 1 crore which he shared with Wazid for providing the necessary accounts.
The investigation further revealed that the syndicate used around 10 different bank accounts to facilitate multi-crore transactions through fraudulent loan apps.
In 2023, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 384 (extortion), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), a case was registered against the unidentified accuser.
The Chandigarh Police is actively searching for other members of the syndicate involved in this elaborate scam. This scam serves as a reminder of the online threats posed by cyber criminals highlighting the importance of caution while downloading unknown applications.
