BENGALURU: Ten men have been arrested on charges of cheating people from 21 states of Rs 6 crore at least, after getting them to invest on the promise of high returns. Police have recovered 72 mobile phones, 182 debit cards, two laptops, 133 sim cards, 127 bank passbooks, and Rs 1.7 lakh from them.
While three of the suspects masterminded the inter-state racket, the remaining seven worked in different capacities, such as opening bank accounts, withdrawing cash from those accounts, and handing it over to the kingpins.
The gang’s handlers were in China, police said.
Police commissioner B Dayananda said the accused are involved in 122 cybercrime cases registered in 21 states. Details of bank records and documents seized from the accused show that they had made at least Rs 6 crore from the victims in a year.
The masterminds are Syed Yayhya, Umar Farooq, and Mohammed Maheen, residents of RT Nagar and surrounding areas. Syed Yayhya and Farooq are BCA degree holders, while Maheen is a PU dropout.
Police are yet to find how Yayhya and the two others came in contact with the Chinese men, who targeted the victims by sending them random WhatsApp messages and luring them into investing by offering attractive interest rates.
“Initially, the victims are given simple tasks like liking a video or uploading a one- line positive comment. For this, the accused would pay around Rs 500 or Rs 1,000. After winning the victims’ confidence, the accused would ask them to invest, promising high returns,” an officer said.
The fraud came to light when a city resident filed a complaint with North-CEN police, stating he had lost Rs 25 lakh to cybercrooks in June and July.
“Probe revealed that Rs 25 lakh was transferred into different bank accounts and withdrawn quickly. The account holders, some of them in the city and others outside, told us that they were unaware of the cash transaction. They told us that they were given a commission of around Rs 1,000 to open bank accounts and hand over their credentials to the racketeers. Further investigation took us to the three masterminds and their seven associates. The associates were assigned the task of finding bank account holders, usually their distant relatives or friends of neighbours and so on,” the officer added.
Trio met handlers in China
Initially, police arrested seven men who revealed that the masterminds were three men. Police learnt that the trio had even flown to China to meet their handlers. “Yayhya would transfer the money to his China bosses in the form of cryptocurrencies. We arrested the trio soon after they landed at Kempegowda International Airport on Sept 15,” police said. All the accused are in judicial custody.
