Cyber fraud is becoming an increasingly complex problem. Individuals from all walks of life are affected. Cybercriminals are adopting innovative methods to carry out their schemes. One such case has been uncovered by the Jharkhand CID.
The fraud involved approximately ₹30 crore, perpetrated through mule bank accounts under the guise of investments. The cyber crime police of the Cyber Police Station operating under the Jharkhand CID conducted raids in six districts of Jharkhand, including Ranchi, Lohardaga, Simdega, Palamu, Koderma, and Jamtara, leading to the arrest of seven cybercriminals.
Among those arrested were Roshan Kumar and Satish Kumar, residents of Ranchi. Roshan Kumar’s bank account held ₹10.02 crore, with links to crimes in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. Satish Kumar’s mule bank account contained ₹6.2 crore, with connections to Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
Jitendra Kumar Pappu, arrested from Jamtara district, had ₹5.1 crore in his mule account, with links to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi. Nurez Ansari, arrested from Lohardaga, possessed ₹5.05 crore, with links to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal.
Pranranjan Sinha, arrested from Palamu, had ₹1.06 crore in his account, linked to Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan. Ganesh Chikk Badaik, arrested from Simdega, held ₹3.02 crore, with links to Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Rajendra Kumar Saw, arrested from Koderma, had ₹67 lakh in his mule account, linked to Delhi.
The authorities recovered several pieces of evidence, including 8 mobile phones, 12 SIM cards, 9 ATM cards, 4 passbooks, 9 checkbooks, an Udyam registration, and WhatsApp chats. The investigation revealed that cybercriminals in Jharkhand used 15,000 mule bank accounts to conceal fraudulent transactions, according to analysis by the Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs. A FIR was registered against 40 Layer-1 accounts with transactions of ₹10 lakh or more on July 29. The investigation led to the arrest of 7 cybercriminals from 6 districts of Jharkhand who used mule bank accounts for investment-related fraud. The network of these criminals extends to several other states in the country.
A mule account is a bank account used by criminals to hide money obtained through cyber fraud. The fraudsters open accounts in the names of others and then deposit money obtained through fraud. It is difficult to trace the origin and number of transfers in these bank accounts. After the fraud money is deposited in these mule bank accounts, cybercriminals transfer the money from one account to another in minutes using UPI, without going to the bank.