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NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police cybercrime unit has dismantled an organised online fraud syndicate that allegedly tricked tens of thousands of citizens into distributing phishing messages through a reward-earning mobile platform, arresting five persons. An inquiry that began with an initial complaint of Rs 2.21 lakh eventually exposed a nationwide network linked to 544 police complaints across India, an estimated fraud footprint surpassing Rs 10 crore, and the dissemination of more than 3,300 malicious text messages.
Deceptive Rewards Used to Turn Handsets into SMS Relays
Investigators revealed that the syndicate recruited participants by offering minor payouts ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 3 for each transaction redemption completed on the app. Beneath the cover of a routine reward platform, the application automatically dispatched nine to twelve deceptive messages from each user’s personal smartphone without requiring their manual intervention. This tactic allowed the syndicate to bypass detection filters and convert unsuspecting participants into conduit nodes for propagating wide-scale phishing campaigns.
The dispatched text messages were styled as urgent traffic challan payment notices, package delivery verifications, and promotional incentives, all containing links designed to steer recipients toward fraudulent web portals. By fabricating official road transport fines, the operators induced anxiety among motorists, prompting them to open links and compromise personal information before verifying the legitimacy of the communication.
Financial Probe Traces Rs 2 Crore Surge and Overseas Account
The operational scale expanded rapidly, encompassing more than 41,000 enrolled users on the application platform. Records examined by detectives showed that monetary movements reached nearly Rs 2 crore within a three-day window. While following the domestic and international money trail, investigators traced illicit transfers into a bank account situated in Kuwait, indicating the involvement of an international financial routing mechanism.
The inquiry also uncovered an intricate money-mule infrastructure within the country. Illicit deposits were systematically broken up and shifted across multiple accounts to obscure original transaction points and hinder detection of the final beneficiaries. The cyber unit is continuing its scrutiny of ledger entries to determine the full volume of funds siphoned abroad and to pinpoint other entities managing the payout channels.
Raids Yield Stash of Bank Cards, Scanners, and Corporate Seals
During the coordinated arrests, police personnel seized a broad cache of digital hardware and banking paraphernalia. The confiscated inventory includes 15 mobile devices and tablets, 59 debit cards, 52 bank passbooks and chequebooks, alongside official rubber stamps registered to 14 private firms. Investigators also impounded five point-of-sale terminals, eight payment QR codes, a motor vehicle, and a gold chain.
Forensic specialists are evaluating the confiscated equipment to reconstruct the wider operational setup, establish the exact number of active transmission handsets, and track the final recipients of the defrauded sums. The case underscores a sophisticated shift in cyber fraud methods, where criminals commandeer the telecom resources of ordinary citizens to run mass-scale phishing networks. Law enforcement authorities have urged the public to refrain from tapping links delivered via unverified short messages and to exercise strict caution before granting device permissions to reward-based mobile software.
