101 held in cybercrime crackdown

TGSCB cracks the whip

■ The two-week operation commenced on September 23 and covered Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry

■ Arrested 101 accused, including 18 womena

■ Traced fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 17 crore

■ The arrests were connected to 51 cases registered across the seven TGCSB Cyber Crime Police Stations

Metro India News | Hyderabad : The TGCSB on Wednesday said it conducted a multi-state cybercrime operation across South India, arrested 101 accused, including 18 women, and traced fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 17 crore. The two-week operation commenced on September 23 and covered Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry, targeting individuals and networks involved in various forms of cyber-enabled financial crimes, Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) Director Shikha Goel said in a release.

Six dedicated special teams consisting of more than 100 personnel were deployed for coordinated field-level action.

The arrested accused were identified as agents and mule account holders, she said, adding the operation also resulted in the seizure of several mobile phones, SIM cards, bank passbooks, and cheque books that were allegedly used in various fraudulent transactions. Fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 17 crore were traced through the mule accounts, Goel said.

The arrests were connected to 51 cases registered across the seven TGCSB Cyber Crime Police Stations. So far, 1,172 crime links across India have been traced, including 206 links connected to Telangana, she said. "Of the 101 persons arrested, 50 have more than five crime links across India, highlighting the extensive network of cybercrime identified during the operation," she said.

Investigation revealed that cyber fraudsters procured mule bank accounts through agents and intermediaries and used them for receiving, transferring and withdrawing fraudulent funds through various channels, including ATM withdrawals, bulk transfers and overseas-linked transactions. The account holders and intermediaries were paid commissions of up to 5 per cent of the fraudulent amount transacted through the accounts.

The operation identified several accused with extensive cybercrime links across the country, including an employee of an NBFC who allegedly acted as an agent by facilitating mule bank accounts for cybercrime fraudsters for commission, a graduate engaged in the money-exchange business who allegedly facilitated mule accounts on a commission basis, Goel said.

Similarly, an ex-serviceman allegedly involved in cybercrime activities and linked to six cybercrime cases across the country, an accused holding a Diploma in Film Technology linked to 26 cybercrime cases, a businessman with an M Com degree was found to have 34 cybercrime links, an e-commerce firm employee whose bank account was allegedly used for cybercrime-related fraudulent transactions for commission and was linked to 50 cybercrime cases besides Trust accounts opened in the names of NGOs that were allegedly misused for receiving and transferring cybercrime funds and were linked to 60 cybercrime cases across the country.

The investigation revealed that the accused belonged to diverse age groups, professions and educational backgrounds.

A majority of the accused, 82 per cent, were in the 20–50 years age group, while 17 per cent were above 50 years. Profession-wise, business/self-employment constituted the largest group at 23 per cent, followed by private employment (13 per cent), housewives/homemakers (10 per cent), drivers/operators (7 per cent), and sales/marketing (5 per cent).

Educationally, 26 per cent had Intermediate education, 24 per cent were Graduates/Degree holders, 16 per cent had Secondary education, 11 per cent were uneducated, seven per cent had Diploma/ITI qualifications, four per cent had primary education, while three per cent each were postgraduates and had Professional/Other qualifications such as B Tech and Nursing.Further investigation is underway to uncover additional crime links, inter-state connections and international networks involved in this large-scale cybercrime operation, the TGCSB Director added.