Latest news with #IntelligenceFusionandStrategicOperations
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Cybercrime syndicate dismantled by Delhi Police
In a six-month crackdown, the Delhi Police's IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) unit dismantled a sophisticated cybercrime syndicate that siphoned ₹2.6 crore from credit card holders across India. The gang, operating from Delhi's Kakrola and Uttam Nagar, included call centre employees, SIM card suppliers, and crypto launderers, who were arrested in a coordinated raid, the Delhi Police said in a statement. Police said they have recovered 52 mobile phones, multiple SIM cards and bank details. (Representational image) According to police, the fraudsters first obtained confidential customer data from a Gurugram-based multinational BPO whose employees had leaked credit card details since 2019. Posing as bank executives, the fraudsters called victims with fake offers such as 'One Time Permission' to extract OTPs and CVVs. Within minutes, they used these details to buy e-gift cards online and sell them to travel agents for cash or USDT cryptocurrency. The arrested accused were identified as Ankit Rathi, Waseem, Vishal Bhardwaj, who allegedly masterminded the operation, and Vishesh Lahori (Paji) and Durgesh Dhakad, who were call centre employees, and Shivam Sehrawat, who supplied SIM cards. Police said they have recovered 52 mobile phones, multiple SIM cards and bank details. 'This was an organised digital heist. We're setting a blueprint to dismantle such syndicates,' said deputy commissioner of police Vinit Kumar (IFSO).
Hindustan Times
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Forensic probe into AltNews funding still on, says Delhi Police in court
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has informed a city court that the forensic probe into alleged foreign funding of fact-checking website AltNews and data recovered from its co-founder Mohammad Zubair was still on, even as the mandatory sanction required under law to take cognisance of the offences against him is still to be obtained. AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27, 2022, and he was granted bail on July 15, 2022. The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell filed a charge sheet before chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Shriya Agrawal of the Patiala House court on June 16, nearly three years after a case was registered against Zubair over his alleged objectionable social media posts. HT has seen a copy of the charge sheet. The court posted the matter for hearing on September 23. 'Donations of over ₹70 lakh were traced through Razorpay to the Pravada Media Foundation (which runs AltNews) under the name of Nirjhira Sinha,' the charge sheet stated. 'Forensic and other financial data and information on the money trail of Zubair and AltNews is currently pending and a supplementary charge sheet will be filed later on that aspect.' The Delhi Police had arrested Zubair on June 27, 2022 in connection with an FIR registered based on a complaint from an X user, claiming one of Zubair's 2018 posts on the platform hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. He was granted bail on July 15, 2022. The charge sheet stated the complaint in the present matter was filed by Gog Raj Chaudhary, a property dealer from Jaipur, based on a tweet by Zubair that allegedly hurt religious sentiments.
NDTV
28-07-2025
- NDTV
Woman, 62, Wanted To Buy Sleeping Pills, But Lost Rs 77 Lakh In Digital Arrest
A search for a prescribed drug led to a sexagenarian falling prey to a digital arrest and fraud amounting to Rs 77 lakh. The story dates to August of 2024, when a 62-year-old woman, Neeru, was browsing different drug stores' websites to purchase sleeping pills, a medicine she takes every month for her neurological illness. Neeru ordered the required medicines and forgot about them until she received a call from an officer, claiming to be a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer, accusing her of buying "illicit drugs". Neeru, a former teacher who lives alone in Delhi's Vasant Kunj, panicked. The man, claiming to be from the NCB, said that the department was suspecting her of supplying drugs in the national capital, Delhi. The NCB officer gave the elderly woman two options: transfer some money to verify the bank account details or face an arrest warrant. Afraid, Neetu transferred Rs 3 lakh to different bank accounts just to prove her innocence. 10 Days Later: 'Good Cop' Joins 10 days later, Neetu received another call, this time from another man who also claimed to be from NCB, but a 'good cop'. The man offered the much-needed validation to Neeru, assuring her of her innocence and promising to recover the money. Within two days, the 62-year-old received Rs 20,000 back into her account, allegedly the first of many promised transactions to bring back the lost month. The 'good cop' had now gained her trust. WhatsApp Video Call Then came a video call on WhatsApp from four men, including the 'good cop'. The four 'officials' asked the woman to share her screen and open her bank account, after which all her money would be returned. Trusting the good cop, the woman followed the instructions and unknowingly gave net banking access to the fraudsters. Before the woman could realise, multiple debit messages flashed on her mobile phone, with transactions ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. When she called the trusted 'good cop', his phone was switched off. Real Cops Get Into Play On September 24, she registered a complaint at the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell. A team under ACP Manoj Kumar and Sub Inspector Karamvir started investigating digital arrest. After nine months, on June 24, 2025, the police got a lead and arrested Akhilesh, one of the accused, from his rented flat in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar. During the interrogation, Akhilesh pleaded guilty to transferring the money from the victim's bank account, along with accomplices Amjad, Shahid and Shakeel. The accused revealed that he made the woman share her phone screen on a video call, through which they gained access to the bank account. On June 27, the police raised Punhana in Haryana and arrested Amjad, who won Neeru's trust by pretending to be a good cop, and his accomplice Shahid. During interrogation, Amjad revealed that he, along with his brother-in-law, Shahid, and friend Shakeel, were conspiring to extort money from the woman by threatening to implicate her in a false case. He also said that the fourth accused, Hamid, was involved in threatening the woman by posing as a fake NCB officer or a 'bad cop'. On July 1, the police raided Hamid's house in Rajasthan's Deeg and arrested both Hamid and Shakeel despite villagers' efforts to save the two. Neeru has received only Rs 3 lakh so far. The police are investigating several bank accounts through which the money was moved around. In the mobile phones seized from the five accused, the police have reportedly found evidence of sextortion of other victims. It is further being investigated.
Indian Express
27-07-2025
- Indian Express
‘Good cop, bad cop': How fake NCB officers duped 62-year-old woman of Rs 77 lakh
Last August, a 62-year-old woman was surfing an online drug store's website for her monthly prescription of sleeping pills. It was a routine for her to order medicines online every month for a neurological ailment. However, her latest search landed her in trouble, which ended in an alleged digital arrest fraud of Rs 77 lakh as two men — allegedly posing as officers of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) — played 'good cop, bad cop', said police. After she reported her ordeal to the police, it took investigators nine months to trace the accused who had transferred a major portion of the money in his bank account. His arrest led the police to four more accomplices, all of whom were arrested by July 1, said officers. A resident of Vasant Kunj and a former teacher, the woman told police she had received the first call from the alleged fraudsters last August. A man posing as an NCB officer triggered alarm by claiming that she had ordered 'banned drugs'. The woman who lives alone panicked. 'The caller told her that the drug she ordered was banned in India and that the NCB suspected she was helping the supply of these drugs in Delhi,' a senior police officer, privy to the investigation details, said. Transfer a certain amount of money to verify the bank account details or face an arrest warrant — Neeru felt helpless when the caller gave her these two options. Desperate to prove her innocence, Neeru had transferred a total of Rs 3 lakh in separate tranches to multiple accounts by September 10, 2024,. 'She then waited for the next call, hoping to be cleared of all charges,' a police officer said. After 10 days, she got another call. But this time it was the 'good cop'. 'The man on the call, who also posed as an NCB officer, told her that he knew that she was innocent. He told her to stay calm and let him work with the NCB to get her money back,' the officer explained. The 62-year-old received Rs 20,000 back into her account two days later — she was allegedly assured that this was the first of the many transactions. 'The 'good cop' had gained her trust,' the officer added. She got a video call on WhatsApp after two days. 'This time, four men were on call. She was asked to share her screen and open her bank account after which all her money would be returned. As she trusted the man who had posed as the 'good cop', she followed the instructions,' the officer explained. Trouble, however, deepened for the elderly woman as her netbanking credentials were allegedly stolen. The video call ended with the fraudsters allegedly telling the woman that they were satisfied with the probe. Soon after, her worst nightmare turned true. Multiple debit messages flashed on her mobile phone — transactions of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and so on… When she called up the man posing as the NCB officer, his phone was off. She finally sought help from a relative and registered a complaint at the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell on September 26, 2024. A team under ACP Manoj Kumar and Sub Inspector Karamvir started a probe into the money trail. 'The call detail records and IMEI details of beneficiary account holders were obtained from the technical service providers and banks concerned. During further investigation it was found that around Rs 48 lakh from the duped amount was further transferred to a particular account,' the officer explained. This account belonged to Akhilesh (23), a resident of Nuh in Haryana. The police raided his home and found that he had left for Delhi—on the pretext of preparing for judicial services examinations. Multiple locations popped up when police tried to trace him through his mobile location. Investigators finally reached a breakthrough in June when his location was traced in the hub of government exam aspirants — Mukherjee Nagar. 'On June 24, Akhilesh was traced living at a rented apartment in Indira Vikas Colony, Mukharjee Nagar. He tried to flee but he was overpowered. He was arrested and his disclosure statement was recorded wherein he stated that he received the cheated amount on the direction of his associates — Amjad, Saahid and Shakeel. He also trapped the victim to share her phone screen on video call and gained access to the victim's bank account to transfer funds to his own bank account,' the officer underlined. On June 27, a raid was conducted in Punhana, Haryana, and Amjad and Shahid were arrested as well. Amjad, the police said, was the man who pretended to be the 'good cop and the woman's well-wisher'. 'Amjad disclosed that he and his brother-in-law Shahid, along with his friend Shakeel, called the victim and threatened her of arrest. They also disclosed involvement of the other accused, Hamid, saying that he was the fourth fake NCB officer,' the police officer added. On July 1, the police raided Hamid's home in Rajasthan's Deeg. Shakeel was also at his home. However, the police said that Hamid's family and the villagers tried to shield the duo, giving Shakeel a chance to flee. But the police chased them down and arrested the duo. So far, the elderly woman has got just Rs 3 lakh from the duped amount. The police are now tracking a string of bank accounts used by the accused. Some of the confiscated phones, as per officers, also have evidence of sextortion from other victims and investigation is on.
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Time of India
Fake travel agency busted in Kirti Nagar for running airline refund scam
New Delhi: An aviation refund scam was busted after arrested 40-year-old Akshay Sharma, who was running an international fake call centre in Kirti Nagar. The accused duped foreign nationals of the US, UK and Canada by posing as a legitimate travel agency and fraudulently securing airline refunds using forged death and medical certificates. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sharma's centre lured victims through online ads and collected their payment details under the guise of flight bookings, refunds were then claimed by impersonating customers. According to police, the scam came to light during a digital surveillance by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the special cell that received intelligence inputs about a Kirti Nagar-based entity involved in cyber fraud. "Our team traced misleading flight ads and uncovered a wider racket targeting foreign nationals," said a senior officer. A case under sections of BNS and the IT Act was registered at the special cell police station. A team was formed, and the accused was apprehended on June 24 during a search when officers also seized key digital evidence, including forged certificates used to secure illegitimate refunds. Sharma, police said, operated the fake call centre and used SEO and advertising tools to make his website and booking numbers appear at the top of search results. "Once customers called, the syndicate would extract their financial details, book tickets in their names, and later cancel them using forged medical or death documents," the police officer added. During interrogation, Sharma confessed to the long-running operation and admitted that he had set up the centre to exploit the airline refund systems. He would either return part of the amount citing bogus cancellation charges or retain the entire refund. Police are now tracing financial links, identifying accomplices, and coordinating with international authorities.
