Five held for duping Burari woman in Rs 17 lakh work-from-home scam, laundering money via crypto
She was tricked into performing bogus online tasks and making repeated UPI payments under the pretext of earning commissions. She also learned that fraudsters had illegally accessed her mobile number and identity credentials to obtain personal loans worth Rs 8.8 lakh from two reputed banks without her knowledge, police said.
During investigation, it was found that the cheated amount was funnelled into mule accounts, converted into cryptocurrency, and laundered via a Telegram-based network of crypto buyers, officials said.
Later, five people, including a woman, were nabbed, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said.
They have been identified as Krish (19), a resident of Ashok Vihar; Deepak (23) and Gaurav (27), both residents of Rana Pratap Bagh; Manthan (19), a resident of Burari; and Nidhi Agarwal, alias 'Crypto Queen' (47), a resident of Kingsway Camp.
Krish was the key person who managed the flow of defrauded funds. He admitted to collecting UPI IDs and bank account details from his associates and forwarded the same to cryptocurrency buyers through a Telegram-based channel named 'ATpay.'
The funds received in these accounts were either withdrawn in cash or converted into USDT (Tether) cryptocurrency through Nidhi, who was operating locally by using international communication channels, the DCP said. Deepak was responsible for identifying and onboarding account holders willing to lend their bank accounts for fraudulent transactions.
He used to facilitate these account transfers to Krish. He also introduced the accused, Gaurav (residing in the neighbourhood), who further brought in the accused, Manthan, a 19-year-old youth who knowingly provided his bank account for processing large sums of money on the inducement of petty commissions, police said.
Victim made repeated UPI payments
The victim was unemployed. She tricked into performing bogus online tasks and making repeated UPI payments under the pretext of earning commissions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
22 minutes ago
- India Today
Court slams police for insisting on identity disclosure in minor's abortion case
The Bombay High Court has permitted a medical practitioner to carry out the termination of the pregnancy of a minor girl without disclosing her identity, pulling up the police for continuing to insist on such disclosure despite clear judicial rulings to the contrary.A bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Neela Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by a gynecologist on behalf of a minor who had become pregnant following a consensual relationship. The doctor sought court permission to perform the abortion, as the pregnancy was at 13 weeks — well within the legal limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 — while maintaining the minor's Meenaz Kakalia, representing the petitioner, argued that forcing the disclosure of the minor's identity would breach her right to privacy and reproductive autonomy, both protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. She cited the Supreme Court's interpretation of the MTP Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, asserting that registered medical practitioners are not required to reveal the identity of minors even while submitting mandatory POCSO reports. While granting the requested relief, the High Court expressed concern that medical professionals still felt compelled to seek judicial intervention in such cases due to ongoing pressure from police authorities.'We are quite surprised that, despite the clear finding of the Supreme Court as well as of this Court, repeatedly holding that in the facts of such cases, the identity of the minor girl need not be insisted upon to be revealed, the Doctors concerned are compelled to approach this Court for such permissions as the Police insist upon the doctors to reveal the name and identity of the minor victims. This is nothing but harassment of the doctors as well as the minor victims,' the bench prevent further violations and ensure consistent application of the law, the Court directed that a copy of its order, along with the relevant Supreme Court ruling, be circulated to all police stations across Maharashtra. The order is also to be sent to the Director General of Police to ensure enforcement and avoid future infringements on the rights of minor victims and medical professionals.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
Five members of interstate cyber gang held from Delhi
1 2 Prayagraj: Cyber cell police of Prayagraj on Wednesday arrested five members of an interstate gang from Delhi that was allegedly involved in duping gullible people of over Rs 28.62 lakh by putting them under 'digital arrest'. Those arrested were Kaustubh Gupta of Jalaun, Bhanu Saini of Saharanpur, Anurag of Delhi, Shani Jha of Kanpur and Himanshu Kumar of Etawah. Cops also seized seven mobiles, three SUVs, including one Range Rover and one Mercedes Benz, one ATM card, 14 SIMs, one POS machine, and five cheque books from their possession. Five members of the gang were earlier arrested from different parts of the country. Police said the fraudsters contacted the victims under the guise of FedEx International Courier agents and claimed that a parcel going from Mumbai to Iran having drugs has been seized. They further claimed the parcel had their IDs and even terrorists were operating using their IDs. In the next step, a person posing as Crime Branch officer would talk over Skype platform and extort money. During interrogation, fraudsters revealed that they were connected to cyber thugs in countries like Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Thailand etc through Telegram. Their nexus worked in two modes. In the first, cyber thugs sitting in foreign countries contacted people of India through their agents by means like allurements, threats (investment scams, online gaming scams, digital arrest, cheating by using fake WhatsApp DPs of big businessmen/leaders), etc and forced them to get money transferred to the accounts mentioned by them. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like These 11 Everyday Foods Might Be the Key to Knee Pain Relief Undo In the next mode, agents would lure people from different states of India to earn money and get them to open their current/savings accounts. After taking the account-related documents (cheque book, ATM, internet banking password, etc), they get the OTP forwarder app installed on the phone having a mobile number registered with the concerned bank, due to which the bank OTP received during the transaction reaches the cyber fraudsters sitting in foreign countries directly. After this, they use the mule account in cyber fraud and make transactions in those accounts, giving their commission to the agents sitting in India through USDT (cryptocurrency). To avoid arrest and keep their identity confidential, the accused used techniques like VPN and IP bounce. During investigation, it came to light that these people were connected to many Telegram groups, through which they supplied account numbers to their foreign accomplices.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
ED raids unearth multiple property documents linked to former Vasai-Virar civic chief
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized multiple property-related documents linked to the former civic chief of Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC), Anil Pawar, during searches conducted at 12 premises linked to him on Tuesday and Wednesday. ED sources said Pawar had "created a number of entities in the name of his family members, relatives and benamidars to launder the bribe amount collected." The source said, "The formation of shell entities coincides with his posting as VVCMC commissioner (2022). These entities are primarily engaged in businesses where large amounts of cash are absorbed, such as construction and redevelopment of residential towers, construction of warehouses and others." You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Investigations by the ED showed an organised cartel of VVCMC officers, including the commissioner, deputy director of town planning, junior engineers, architects, CAs, and liaisoners, all operating in collusion. This cartel is responsible for large-scale illegal construction within VVCMC's jurisdiction. Commissioner VVCMC Anil Pawar, an IAS officer, is accused of orchestrating and sustaining this cartel. The ED investigation showed that after Pawar assumed the role of commissioner of VVCMC, the commission fee was set at Rs 20-25 per sq ft for the commissioner and Rs 10 per sq ft for his junior, Y S Reddy (Deputy Director Town Planning), based on the total project area from the builders. During searches at twelve premises associated with Pawar, the ED seized Rs 1.33 crore in unaccounted cash, along with numerous incriminating documents and devices. These included property documents in the names of relatives and benamidars, as well as cash and cheque deposit slips, among others. The ED sources said digital devices seized during the operations revealed Pawar's close involvement in creating a nexus of VVCMC officials and architects, CAs, and liaisoners. The money laundering case pertains to the illegal construction of 41 residential and commercial buildings on govt and private land under VVCMC's jurisdiction since 2009. This includes a 60-acre tract designated for sewage treatment and dumping facilities. Although Pawar was not the VVCMC chief at the time of construction, he failed to take action against the developments after assuming office, despite receiving complaints. The 41 buildings were recently demolished following a Bombay high court order. Flat buyers lost their money as well as their homes. In May, the ED raided 13 locations in Nalasopara, Vasai, Virar, and Hyderabad, seizing Rs 8.6 crore in unaccounted cash and Rs 23.2 crore worth of jewellery and bullion from the Hyderabad residence of Y S Reddy, deputy director of town planning, VVCMC. A few locals in Vasai burst crackers and distributed sweets late on Tuesday after the news of the ED raid spread across the city. They alleged that since Pawar was the administrator, he took unilateral decisions and corruption peaked during his tenure. "We also had written to the Maharashtra chief minister to conduct an investigation about his wealth and properties," said Sushant Patil of the Bhumiputra Sangathan, Vasai.
