Delhi Police Dismantle Cybercrime Syndicate, Arrest 18 in Rs 2.6 Crore Fraud

The Delhi Police's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit conducted a six-month operation that led to the arrest of 18 individuals allegedly involved in a Rs 2.6-crore fraud. The suspects, who were call centre employees in Gurgaon, leaked confidential details of credit card holders and used them to purchase high-value electronic gift cards, which were later redeemed for domestic flight tickets. The police investigation revealed that the syndicate had a clearly defined structure, including callers, SIM card providers, insider data sources, money handlers, and masterminds.

Key Takeaways:

• The Delhi Police arrested 18 individuals allegedly involved in a Rs 2.6-crore fraud, including the masterminds Ankit Rathi, Waseem, and Vishal Bhardwaj.
• The suspects used deceptive phrases like "one-time permission" and "customer value verification code" to gain victims' trust and extract confidential information.
• The syndicate had a structured system, covering every stage of the cybercrime chain, including callers, SIM card providers, insider data sources, money handlers, and masterminds.
• The accused used leaked customer data to purchase high-value electronic gift cards, which were later redeemed for domestic flight tickets.
• Investigators found that the syndicate used cryptocurrency (USDT) and cash via resale of gift cards to launder stolen funds, with Akilesh Lakhotia and Harsh Chauhan allegedly dealing with the conversion.
• Shivam Sehrawat was identified as the individual responsible for providing SIM cards to the syndicate.
• The call centre employees involved in the scam, Vishesh Lahori alias Paji and Durgesh Dhakad, leaked confidential customer data.
• The police investigation revealed that the operational team, comprising Rahul Vishwakarma, Pawan Bisht, Kailash Purohit alias Kabir, Himanshu Chugh alias Babu, and Ravin Saini, allegedly executed the phishing calls.

Statistics:

• Rs 2.6 crore: The amount allegedly stolen by the syndicate.
• 18: The number of individuals arrested by the Delhi Police.
• 6 months: The duration of the police operation that led to the arrest of the suspects.
• 1 in 5 Indians: The percentage of Indians affected by cybercrime, according to a previous Contify report.
• 50% increase: The rise in cybercrime complaints in India over the past year, as per the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

Sources:

• "18 arrested for Rs 2.6 crore call centre scam" by The Times of India
• "Delhi Police Dismantle Call Centre Scam Syndicate" by Indian National Press (Bombay) Pvt. Ltd.