Two held in Mangaluru for collecting mule bank accounts for cyber fraud network
Mangaluru: The Cyber Crime Police in Mangaluru have arrested two persons for allegedly collecting bank accounts from members of the public under the pretext of using them for a trading business and later using those accounts for cyber fraud linked to foreign operators.
During the operation, the police seized four mobile phones, 18 debit cards, 17 bank passbooks, six cheque books, 1,479.31 units of USDT cryptocurrency and a Maruti car from the accused.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammed Aneesh (30), son of Abdul Khader and a resident of Kasaba Bengre, Kuloor Post, and Saleeth Ahmed M. (32), son of Ahmed Mustafa and a resident of 7th Block, Surathkal, both in Mangaluru.
The arrests were made in connection with a case registered at the Mangaluru City Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Sections 308(5), 318(4), 319(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
According to police, the case came to light after Mohammed Sinan, a resident of Mangaluru city, filed a complaint on March 10 stating that his acquaintances, Mohammed Aneesh and Saleeth Ahmed, had taken his bank account details claiming that they would be used for a trading business. However, the account was later used for cyber fraud activities.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case and launched an investigation. During the probe, technical evidence was collected and analysed, following which the accused were traced in Mangaluru and taken into custody.
Police said the investigation revealed that the accused had collected multiple bank accounts from members of the public and used them for cyber fraud operations.
According to investigators, the accused purchased USDT cryptocurrency from individuals in India at lower prices and later sold it at higher prices to cyber fraudsters based in China through contacts made on WhatsApp and Telegram.
The Chinese cyber fraudsters allegedly transferred money obtained from cyber crimes committed against Indian citizens into the bank accounts provided by the accused.
To facilitate the transactions, the accused were collecting bank accounts from members of the public in Mangaluru city. Police said the accused were fully aware that the accounts were being used for cyber fraud.
Whenever complaints were registered against the bank accounts and the accounts were frozen by banks, the accused allegedly collected new bank accounts and continued their fraudulent activities.
During further examination of the mobile phones seized from the accused and subsequent interrogation, the police found that the accused had collected more than 70 bank accounts from people in Mangaluru city and surrounding areas.
Out of these, 37 bank accounts have already been reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), with more than 88 complaints registered from different parts of the country.
Police said further investigation is underway to trace the financial transactions carried out through the bank accounts and to identify other persons involved in the network.