Rs 854-crore cyber heist: Gang got alcoholics to open mule accounts, says CCB

The gang of cyber fraudsters that pulled off a Rs 854-crore heist targeted gullible people and alcoholics, police say. 

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested six suspects from Bengaluru while three kingpins, said to be based in Rajasthan and abroad, are absconding. 

Seventeen victims from Bengaluru are reported to have Rs 49 lakh. 

The kingpins approached Manoj alias Jack, a Bengalurean who has since been arrested, on Facebook and signed him up. 

Manoj ran a small factory in Bengaluru but closed it down during Covid. He later joined a call centre where he met Vasanth, another arrested suspect. They hit it off well. Manoj told him about the plan. Together, they signed up four of their former classmates, according to an officer police close to the investigation. 

The six men, along with the three masterminds, started luring people on WhatsApp and Telegram with "money-double, task completion, part-time job and other fraudulent offers. 

The fraudsters won the victims' trust by paying them out initially. But as the victims put in more money, the fraudsters went incommunicado, police said.  

The absconding suspects focused on the core part of the heist while the arrested suspects were foot soldiers, taking care of the logistics and other tasks. 

Vasanth and Chakri zeroed in on gullible people and alcoholics by offering them money for opening bank accounts. They took their documents and applied for trade licences. Using these licences, they contacted bank officials looking for customers and opened current accounts. 

While the gang gave the account holders details of the accounts, they did not share the credentials. These details were later given to the absconding suspects who used them to scam people, the officer said.  

Banks to blame?

The officer noted that at the time of opening the account, bank employees failed to run proper KYC checks because of the "extreme pressure" to meet their targets. 

"Private banks usually give their employees new accounts targets that they have to meet. Such pressurising gives way to loopholes that are eventually exploited by scamsters,” the officer said. 

While 5,013 cases were registered all over the country, police suspect that the number could be much higher. 

Complaints against the suspects 

Andaman and Nicobar - 1

Andhra Pradesh - 296

Arunachal Pradesh - 1

Assam - 23

Bihar - 200

Chandigarh - 13

Chhattisgarh - 70

Delhi - 194

Goa - 8

Gujarat - 642

Haryana - 201

Himachal Pradesh - 39

Jharkhand - 42

Karnataka - 487

Kerala - 138

Lakshadweep - 1

Madhya Pradesh - 89

Maharashtra - 332

Meghalaya - 4

Mizoram - 1

Odisha - 31

Puducherry - 20

Punjab - 67

Rajasthan - 270

Tamil Nadu - 472

Telangana - 719

Tripura - 5

Uttar Pradesh - 505

Uttarakhand - 24

West Bengal - 118