Mumbai, July 24: Hyderabad Police uncovered a massive fraud that duped around 15,000 people and allegedly laundered over Rs 700 crore to China via Dubai within a span of less than a year. During a presentation, Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand elaborated on the scamsters' modus operandi and revealed how they exploited technology to cheat people. The police also sent money to an account operated by the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

The fraudulent scheme operated by sending messages to people, encouraging them to invest small amounts initially. One complainant disclosed that he received an offer for a part-time job involving 'rating and reviewing' certain tasks through a messaging app. Trusting the legitimacy of the offer, he proceeded to register on their website. Following his initial investment of Rs 25,000, the complainant managed to earn a profit of Rs 20,000. However, his attempts to withdraw the profit were futile, and he was coerced into investing more money. This time, he ended up losing a total of Rs 28 lakh. Job Fraud Alert: Cyber Fraudsters Arrested in Delhi for Duping People Through Quiker.com and Shine.com on Pretext of Providing Jobs.

15,000 People Duped of Rs 712 Crore

During the investigation, it was revealed that the Rs 28 lakh lost by the victim had been transferred to six different accounts. From there, the money was further routed through various Indian bank accounts before ultimately reaching Dubai. The fraudulent funds were utilised to acquire cryptocurrency.

Money Laundered To China

As part of the complex fraud network, one of the arrestees, a resident of Ahmedabad, was found to be in touch with Chinese nationals. This man collaborated with them by providing details of Indian bank accounts and sharing One-Time Passwords (OTPs) for accessing and operating these accounts remotely from Dubai or China using remote access apps. It was also found that one of the arrested persons has shared over 65 accounts with Chinese citizens in which transactions to an amount of Rs 128 crore took place. Cyber Fraud in Mumbai: Cops Fall Victim to Online Fraud, Lose Over Rs 1 Lakh; Probe On.

During the investigation, authorities found that some crypto wallet transactions involved linkages with a wallet associated with Hezbollah. This wallet was labelled belonging to a terror financing module, raising serious concerns about potential illicit connections.

Commissioner CV Ananda said that the nine arrested persons from Mumbai, Lucknow, Gujarat, and Hyderabad are suspected of having connections with fraudsters based in Dubai and China. The accused have been identified as Prakash Mulchandbhai Prajapati, Kumar Prajapati, Naimuddin Wahiduddin Shaik, Gagan Kumar Soni, Parveez aka Guddu, Shameer Khan, Mohammed Munawar, Shah Sumair, and Arul Dass.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 24, 2023 08:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).