Bengaluru police unearth Chinese link in online jobs fraud, arrest 10

Bengaluru: Bengaluru police unearthed a Chinese link and a local currency-to-crypto conversion racket linked to an online jobs fraud by arresting 10 individuals.

On Friday, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda announced the arrests of Sayed Yahya (33), Mohammed Umar Faruk (32), Mohammed Maheen (20), Mohammed Muzammil (21), Tejas (28), Chethan (25), Wasim Akram (29), Mohammed Syed Zaid (22), Sahi Abdul Anan (22) and Om Prakash (29). 

He added that the main kingpins of the scam, which has been pegged at Rs 6 crore, were based in China. 

While the first five and Zaid are from RT Nagar, others are from the surrounding areas.  Zaid worked with Amazon Retail and Chetan with Vivo, according to police. 

Cybercrime investigators said that the 10 "obscured" the money trail by moving the proceeds of the crime into different mule accounts, withdrawing the money from ATMs and converting it to cryptocurrency using peer-to-peer networks in Bengaluru. 

The cryptocurrency was then transferred to their bosses in China, the probe found. 

"We are also looking for those who helped them convert Indian rupees into cryptocurrency," a senior police officer overseeing the investigation told DH. 

"The Chinese kingpins offered them a 1.5 per cent commission after they completed the whole transaction: withdrawing the cash, converting it into crypto and only when the receipt was confirmed." 

Bengaluru's North CEN crime police began the investigation on July 3 after an individual was conned of Rs 25.37 lakh between June 20 and July 1. The probe was overseen by Assistant Commissioner of Police (North CEN) Pavan N and inspector Shivarathna under Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Saidulu Adavath. 

The victim was contacted by an unknown man on WhatsApp and offered an opportunity to earn money by completing tasks after he was added to another Telegram group, like rating hotels online. The victim initially received Rs 400-500 for reviews. Once the hook was in, the fraudsters urged the victim to complete further tasks and invest in crypto. 

The investigators scrutinised four bank accounts and ATM withdrawals and arrested seven people, excluding Yahya, Faruk and Maheen, on September 13 near 13th Cross, RT Nagar. They also seized their mobile devices and three bags, which contained 99 debit cards, 50 bank passbooks, 41 SIM cards, one laptop, 23 mobile phones and Rs 1.24 lakh in cash. 

The arrested suspects revealed that Yahya, Faruk and Maheen had flown to China to meet the kingpins on September 3 and would return on September 15. Police then issued a Look Out Circular (LOC). 

On September 15, Yahya, Faruk and Maheen were arrested at the Bengaluru airport, and six mobile phones were seized from them. Police questioned them and learnt that the three met a Chinese national via Telegram. 

"They pursued it and got into a video call with a man in China," the officer quoted previously said. "The Chinese national briefed them about the scam and asked them to work for a commission. The three have been in it since February this year. After three months, they recruited the others." 

The suspects also rented an office in Peenya, which the police raided and recovered 47 passbooks, 48 SIM cards, 31 debit cards and nine mobile phones. A PG where two suspects stayed was also searched, and 52 debit cards, 34 mobile phones, 40 SIM cards, one laptop and 30 passbooks were found. 

Police have so far managed to freeze Rs 7.34 lakh based on the 122 seized passbooks. 

Bank accounts in this case were flagged in 122 cybercrime cases in 21 states, including nine in Karnataka, according to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).