Mumbai Police on Tuesday said that it has busted a duo who were allegedly involved in buying phones with cyber fraud money and recovered 25 smartphones worth Rs 19.66 lakh.
According to the police, officials from LT Marg Police Station in South Mumbai busted the cyber fraud racket and arrested two men in connection with the matter.
Police said the accused allegedly used money obtained through credit card phishing fraud to purchase expensive smartphones through various online platforms.
Victim duped through phishing link
The investigation began after a complaint was registered at LT Marg Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
According to the police, the victim was contacted by an unidentified person posing as an RBL credit card representative.
The caller allegedly told the victim that they would help deactivate an active Mail Order (MO) service on the credit card. The accused then sent a phishing link to the victim through WhatsApp.
After the victim opened the link, three unauthorised transactions totalling around Rs 4.48 lakh were allegedly carried out through the an e-commerce platform.
Technical investigation leads police to two suspects
Following the complaint, the police conducted a technical investigation to trace those allegedly involved in the fraud.
The investigation led officers to Kurla in Mumbai and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where two alleged members of the syndicate were arrested.
The accused have been identified as Anisbeg Mirza, 23 and Moin Shaikh, 34.
Police said two Apple smartphones directly linked to the reported case were recovered during the operation.
The officers also seized 23 other mobile phones allegedly connected with different cyber crime cases. The recovered devices include smartphones manufactured by top companies.
This took the total number of mobile phones seized to 25, with an estimated value of more than Rs 19.66 lakh.
Police probe wider cyber crime links
The recovery of additional smartphones has led police to examine their possible links with other cyber fraud cases.
Investigators are now conducting further inquiries to establish how the devices were obtained and whether the arrested suspects were involved in other fraudulent transactions.
Senior officers supervise operation
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharati, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Commissioner of Police (South Region) Shailesh Balkawade, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2) Ragasudha R and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Pydhonie Division) Renuka Buwa.
The field operation was led by Senior Police Inspector Vijay Dandvate and Police Inspector Sanjay Deshmukh.
The Cyber Detection Cell team included Sub-Inspectors Digvijay Metkari, Satish Bade and Amol Gogawale, along with police constables and other detectives.
Police said further investigation is under way to identify other possible members of the suspected cyber fraud network.
0 Comments