Jharsuguda: Thirteen members of a cyber fraud syndicate allegedly operating through mule bank accounts to siphon off money from gullible people were arrested by the police in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district.
Jharsuguda Superintendent of Police Gundala Reddy Raghavendra told reporters that the gang lured local youths into opening bank accounts with promises of quick cash. Account kits including ATM cards, passbooks, SIM-linked mobile numbers, and internet banking access were handed over to the intermediaries engaged by the gang.
The fraudsters offered Rs 15,000 for opening a mule account. While the account holder received Rs 5,000, the mediator got Rs 10,000. They had established a network of unsuspecting victims across western Odisha including Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Rourkela, Sonepur and Sambalpur, targeting mostly students and daily wage labourers.
Some intermediaries were tasked with collecting bank credentials for multiple mule accounts in the region. Once these accounts were activated, another set of intermediaries sent the credentials to locations outside the state such as Jamtara in Bihar, where the accounts were used to receive and siphon off money obtained by defrauding victims across the country.
Police said the syndicate funnelled fraud proceeds through these accounts, withdrawing or transferring money to distant handlers, making the trail difficult to detect.
During investigation, police found that only four cybercrime complaints have been reported so far that are linked to this gang, two in Cyberabad and one each in Ghazipur and Meerut.
Based on the findings conducted with the help of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, police have identified 61 mule accounts so far. Investigation is underway and the number may exceed 100. We have also found Rs 16,44,000, which has been frozen in these mule accounts.”
Two of the 13 arrested people are juveniles, while six are from Jharsuguda and three from Sambalpur. One of the accused is a native of Bihar who was residing in Rourkela. Police have seized many incriminating materials including bank passbooks, documents and ATM cards.
