Rohtak police on Friday claimed to have dismantled an interstate cyber fraud racket and arrested 12 individuals allegedly involved in numerous online fraud cases across several states.
Recovered Items and Operation
Police recovered 16 mobile phones, bank cheque books, airline and train tickets, and other incriminating material from the accused. The operation was conducted by the Cyber Crime Police Station, which resolved three separate cyber fraud cases during the investigation.
Modus Operandi
Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Rajpurohit stated that the accused employed sophisticated cyber techniques, including Remote Access Trojan (RAT) malware, WhatsApp profile cloning, fake banking websites, and fraudulent call centres to deceive victims of substantial sums of money.
Case Details
First Case: A fraud of Rs 17 lakh was reported by Dinesh from Vasant Vihar. The accused impersonated company officials by creating a fake WhatsApp profile using the company owner’s photograph. They sent messages to the manager, claiming the owner was in a meeting and urgently needed Rs 17 lakh transferred to a specified bank account. The manager believed the message and transferred the amount. Police traced the operation to Latur in Maharashtra and arrested two key accused, Rahul Jaysingh and Rajhans Devidas. A bank cheque book used in the fraud, along with flight and train tickets, was recovered. Rahul was sent to judicial custody, while Rajhans was remanded to 12 days of police custody. The gang used RAT malware to steal sensitive information, clone WhatsApp profiles, and make fraudulent demands.
Second Case: Tejveer from Azadgarh was cheated of Rs 1,15,438 after receiving a call from individuals posing as bank officials. The fraudsters offered to increase his credit card limit and requested a One-Time Password (OTP). Once the OTP was shared, money was withdrawn from his account. Four accused from Delhi, including Rajesh and Jagdish (who provided SIM cards), Lalit (who arranged SIM connections), and Himanshu (who operated a fake call center), were arrested. The gang regularly posed as bank representatives and targeted credit card users through fraudulent calls.
Third Case: Sandeep from Pada Mohalla lost Rs 2,63,055 after being lured into redeeming supposed credit card reward points. A woman initially contacted him, claiming his bank credit card reward points were about to expire, but Sandeep denied having any credit card. Later, another caller directed him to visit a website and enter his personal details. After submitting the information, money was debited from his account. Six persons, including Rahul, Deepak, Veeru, Gagandeep, Karan, and Faizan, were arrested, and a total of 15 mobile phones were recovered during the raids.
Investigation Ongoing
The gang created fake banking websites using data sourced through social media platforms and fake SIM cards. Stolen funds were used to purchase expensive goods from e-commerce platforms, which were later sold for cash. Further investigations are underway to identify additional victims and uncover the full extent of the interstate cyber fraud network, said the SP.
