The Gujarat Police have arrested 17 individuals, including four Taiwanese nationals, for allegedly operating a nationwide “digital arrest” scam.
This racket targeted elderly people, convincing them they were under investigation for crimes like money laundering or drug smuggling and pressuring them to pay money to avoid these fabricated charges.
Following technological analysis and surveillance, the Taiwanese nationals identified as Mu Chi Sang, 42, Chang Hu Yun, 33, Wang Chun Wei, 26, and Shen Wei, 35, were taken into custody during planned operations in Delhi and Bengaluru.
The four reportedly controlled rooted phones, monitored the illicit operations, and planned the scam, according to the police. The remaining 13 accused are citizens of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
The foreign nationals had reportedly been visiting India for the last year. They had allegedly given mobile phone apps and technical support to members of the gang so they could transfer money from one account to another.
Crime Branch (Ahmedabad) joint commissioner Sharad Singhal called this one of the largest scams of its kind in recent times. The foreign nationals were the major factor in this scam.
“They were responsible for supplying the rooted mobile phones and setting up the [required] infrastructure. Their role extended beyond India, with evidence showing that they travelled to countries such as Cambodia, Dubai, and China as part of their larger fraud operations,” police said in a statement.
One of the Indians detained, Saif Haider, is said to have helped the foreign nationals with their illegal activities. According to police, he was in charge of overseeing the installation of the technological tools required to get bank account access and one-time passwords (OTPs).
Singhal stated that a number of electronic devices involved in the fraud were found, including 92 debit and credit cards, 120 mobile phones, 96 chequebooks, and 761 SIM cards. He said that one elderly individual had been “digitally arrested” by the group for 10 days.
After forcing him to pay Rs 79.34 lakh as a refundable processing charge to settle an alleged Reserve Bank of India issue, Singhal said the gang had been monitoring him through video calls.
According to the police, the group used minicomputers and rooted smartphones to remotely access OTPs in order to complete transactions. Over 1,000 people are said to have fallen for their schemes. They called individuals pretending to be representatives of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The fraudsters tricked the victims into believing that arrest warrants had been issued and that their cell phone numbers were associated with criminal activity. The victims were instructed to do what they were told.
OTPs could be directed directly to the Taiwanese nationals implicated in the scam because of their complex setup, which included over 120 rooted mobile devices linked to minicomputers and Wi-Fi routers. They carried out illicit activities by remotely accessing bank accounts.
According to police, the rooted phones were used for money laundering, cyber fraud, and unlawful betting after being tampered with to get beyond security protocols.
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