Telangana Cyber Security Bureau arrests two persons for Rs 175 crore fraud using 'mule accounts'

Hyderabad, Aug 25 (PTI) The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau on Sunday said it has arrested two persons here for their alleged involvement in a Rs 175 crore scam wherein transactions pertaining to cyber fraud was done through six bank accounts.

Cyber Security Bureau personnel arrested the two persons on Saturday and a case was registered under relevant sections of the IT Act and BNS, a release from Telangana Police said.

The Cyber Security Bureau's data analysis team detected numerous complaints reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) portal against six bank accounts in a bank at Shamsheergunj here and upon careful verification, it was revealed that large sums of money were transacted through these accounts within a short period of two months between March and April 2024, it said.

The account holders were suspected of being involved in large-scale cyber fraud and it was found that approximately 600 complaints are linked to these accounts.

The main fraudster, operating from Dubai, and his five associates were actively involved in luring poor people into opening bank accounts and supplying them for use in cyber crimes and hawala operations on a commission basis, police said.

Following the main fraudster’s directions, the arrested accused and other associates convinced some poor individuals to open six current accounts in the bank's Shamsheergunj branch in February this year, luring them with commissions.

In March and April, significant transactions occurred in these six accounts, totalling approximately Rs 175 crores, police said.

After opening the accounts, the signatures of the account holders were obtained on cheques, which were then kept in the custody of one of the associates, police said.

Some of the money was sent to Dubai through cryptocurrency.

The associates withdrew the money following the directions of the main fraudster and distributed it to various individuals through his agents, police added.

Police cautioned the public not to open bank accounts for someone else or engage in suspicious transactions. “If you have already opened a mule account, report it to 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in,” the release added. PTI VVK VVK ANE