The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as part of its ‘Chakra-II’ operation, has achieved a major breakthrough in two more cases involving an international online investment fraud worth hundreds of crores targeting Indians; and a cyber-enabled impersonation racket in which Singaporean citizens were cheated.
The first case was registered by the agency last year, based on inputs from various sources, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. As alleged, in conspiracy with local associates, the accused based overseas cheated Indian citizens on the pretext of investment, loans, and job opportunities.
Following analysis of the money trail, the agency recently raided the suspects’ locations. It found that fraudsters used various social media platforms and their advertisement portals, encrypted chat applications, and bulk SMSes, to lure people. They opted for UPI accounts, cryptocurrencies, and international money transfers to evade detection.
137 shell companies
The ill-gotten money was laundered via a complex network of UPI accounts, ultimately converging into cryptocurrency or gold purchases using falsified credentials. The CBI has identified 137 shell companies engaged in fraudulent activities. Many of them were listed with the Registrar of Companies in Bengaluru, where most of these companies’ directors are based.
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Some of the directors were also associated with a Bengaluru-based payout merchant, which controlled around 16 distinct bank accounts, where about ₹357 crore had been funnelled. The funds were then dispersed across various accounts to cover the trail. “Searches conducted in Bengaluru, Cochin and Gurugram yielded substantial evidence...,” said the CBI.
The agency has found that the accused was associated with a foreign national. It also discovered that two chartered accountants from Bengaluru had altered directorships and contact information associated with fraudulent entities.
In the second case, the CBI received inputs from the Singapore police via Interpol related to over 300 cyber-enabled frauds involving more than 100 Indian bank accounts spread across 10 States/Union Territory. The criminals employed a variety of cyber techniques, including social engineering methods such as phishing, vishing, smishing, and fraudulent tech support, to target over 400 Singaporean citizens.
Searches across country
The agency analysed about 150 bank accounts and conducted searches at premises linked to accused persons at 35 locations in Patna, Kolkata, Lucknow, Varanasi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Bhopal, Chennai, Kochi, and Madurai. The operation uncovered multiple gangs involved in the case, it said.
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The CBI conducted searches at 76 locations across 11 States in connection with five other cases under the ‘Chakra-II’ operation. An Amazon blog stated that illegal call centres identified during the probe impacted over 2,000 Amazon and Microsoft customers primarily based in the United States, but also in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The blog featured inputs from Kathy Sheehan, vice-president and associate general counsel, Business Conduct & Ethics, Amazon. It said the operation was supported by a joint criminal referral made by Amazon and Microsoft through joint prosecution agreements in the U.S. and India, as the same cyber criminals were targeting customers of both the companies.
Amazon had initiated takedowns of over 20,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers used as part of impersonation schemes in 2022, the blog said.
