When a 26-year-old from Ahmedabad filed a routine cyber complaint, police did not expect it to lead halfway across the world. The man had fallen for an online export scam—tricked into sending money to a fake Ghana-based buyer for homeopathic medicines. The funds, investigators later found, were routed through layers of Indian bank accounts before ending up overseas.
What began as a local grievance soon exposed a wider web linking five Jamnagar-based suspects to Nigerian handlers orchestrating online trade and investment frauds.
The Mules Behind the Screens
Police arrested Asgar Pathan, Abhishek Joshi, Deep Goswami, Praveen Nandaniya, and Nitin Bhatia, all accused of running “money mule” accounts. They allegedly used shell firms to collect, withdraw, and transfer funds to foreign masterminds, keeping a 7–10% commission.
Investigators say the operation was part of a broader network under probe in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Chandigarh, illustrating how global cybercrime syndicates now depend on local logistical support.
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Digital Forensics and Financial Shadows
The ₹2 crore flow traced so far moved across dozens of accounts—some created for short-term use, others disguised as small trading businesses. Police say funds were converted to cash, rerouted through new accounts, and then wired abroad to avoid detection.
Forensic teams are now working with central agencies to trace digital footprints and identify cross-border money channels linked to Nigerian cybercrime groups.
A Growing Threat in India’s Cyber Economy
Authorities warn that such cases reflect a pattern: overseas masterminds leveraging India’s financial infrastructure through small, incentivized players. Gujarat alone reports over 2,000 cyber fraud cases every month, underscoring a rising threat as digital payment systems expand faster than regulatory safeguards.
“This is a wake-up call,” one senior cyber official said. “The frontline of cybercrime isn’t in Lagos or Delhi anymore — it’s in local towns where money mules operate unnoticed.”
