The Hyderabad cybercrime police arrested a man from Mumbai for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of providing part-time and work-from-home jobs.
The police said the accused, Mohammed Sohyab Bablu Khan, had cheated a Hyderabad resident by making him pay ₹2.38 lakh. It all started through a job offer on WhatsApp and Telegram apps. The accused initially paid him ₹500 as bonus to gain his trust, but he was later made to deposit money in a number of accounts.
Also, Mr. Bablu Khan allegedly provided bank accounts to cybercriminals. The accused opened bank accounts in his name and in the names of others and fake companies. These accounts were used by other fraudsters to route transactions.
The accused earned up to ₹1 lakh for providing a bank account, the police said. The accounts identified now, it was found, were involved in 42 similar fraud cases, six of which were from Telangana.
The police seized ₹5 Lakh, cheque books, 38 debit cards, 11 passbooks, rubber stamps of fake companies, SIM cards and other material.
‘Like and subscribe case’
In a separate case, the cybercrime police arrested two people, Johnny and M. Manual, in connection with an investment fraud case.
The police caught the duo while investigating a case registered in October 2023, wherein the accused got in touch with a Hyderabad resident and offered her a job. The woman was told to like and subscribe the links sent to her on Telegram application.
The woman was initially given simple tasks such as investing small amounts and was also paid for the tasks completed. The fraud unfolded when she was made to invest larger amounts, which finally totalled to about ₹49.45 lakh; no further payment was given to her.
The police found that the bank accounts the accused were dealing with were involved in about 50 fraudulent cases across the country.
The accounts were used to convert cryptocurrency, sent daily by one Raisul of Dubai to a Binance wallet, to Indian Rupees. The converted money was routed to accounts given by Raisul, and the accused persons were earning a 3% commission illegally, the police said.
