Cyber Crime
Agra Police Busts High-Tech Gang Using VPN, SIM Swapping, Telegram, and WhatsApp to Defraud People
AGRA: As part of the ongoing efforts by the Agra Cyber Crime branch successfully apprehended an individual involved in a cybercrime case under Case No. 0072/2024. The accused, Aftab Khushid Khan, was arrested for offenses under sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 3(5) BNS 2023, and 66(D) of the IT Act, related to forgery and other cyber fraud activities. A Redmi 9 Power mobile phone was seized from the accused.
Incident Summary:
The case was initiated after a complaint by Anil Magan, a resident of 71 Surya Nagar, Hari Parvat Police Station, Agra. He reported that his company’s bank account was accessed unauthorizedly. Using a virtual private network (VPN), the culprits hacked into his email and, on July 7 and 8, transferred a sum of Rs 77,93,000 to different bank accounts fraudulently. Despite not sharing any confidential information about the company’s account with anyone, the complainant discovered the unauthorized transactions and filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station, Agra, on July 9, 2024.
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Modus Operandi:
The arrested accused, along with his accomplices, illegally accessed the registered mobile number and email ID linked to the account of M/S SHROFF SALES CORPORATION, the complainant’s company. They swapped the SIM card of the registered mobile number to intercept OTPs required to add beneficiary details to the account. The email ID linked to the company’s bank account was hacked, and OTPs were bypassed using the compromised email, allowing the transfer of Rs 77,93,000 on July 7 and 8 to various accounts. During these transactions, the criminals used dark web tools and VPNs to mask their activities. It was later revealed that Rs 60 lakh from the stolen amount was used to purchase gold.
Investigation Insights:
During the investigation, it was found that the criminals were connected to more than five or six groups on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. They concealed their personal identities, using fake SIM cards and international mobile numbers for their fraudulent activities.