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News Topical, Digital Desk : International links have emerged in the ₹58 crore digital fraud case in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Cyber Police have traced the money trail to Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia.
The scam took place after a 72-year-old businessman in Mumbai filed a complaint alleging that he received calls from fraudsters posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI officials, accusing him of involvement in a crime and demanding his cooperation in the investigation.
The victim was then put on a video call for several hours, in which he was threatened and coerced into transferring money. By the time the call ended, a whopping sum of ₹58 crore had been withdrawn from his account.
What was revealed in the case?
Officials said the entire amount looted through the scam was transferred out of the country using cryptocurrency transactions. An investigation by the Maharashtra Cyber Police revealed that this is not an isolated case, but part of an international gang that has been defrauding people across India for the past year.
Police also claim that this case is part of a much larger network of online fraud involving approximately ₹2,000 crore. Officials say the scam is being run by a gang that uses commission-based bank accounts, which are controlled by associates and serve as collection points.
This is how money was sent out of the country
In every case of digital arrest, victims were asked to make online payments. This money was initially deposited into an Indian account and then immediately converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to a foreign wallet, allowing the scammers to transfer the money out of the country.
"This entire network was active for more than a year. Tracing the money trail is difficult because crypto was immediately transferred between multiple wallets after each transaction," officials said. Many of the IP addresses and exchange details uncovered so far in the investigation of digital transactions are linked to China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
What progress has been made in the case?
Mumbai Cyber Police has traced several bank accounts and digital wallets in this case and the process of seeking data of these accounts from foreign agencies has now begun.
So far, 26 people have been arrested in connection with the Digital Arrest scam, and several bank accounts used to transfer stolen funds have been frozen. Investigators say these accounts were opened using fake identities and were used to quickly transfer money abroad, earning commissions for the account holders.
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