Kanpur: In a major crackdown on cybercrime, authorities have uncovered an organised fraud network in Kanpur involving private bank officials who allegedly assisted cybercriminals in laundering massive sums of money. A total of eight accused, including four bank officials, have been arrested for helping fraudsters by leaking sensitive account information and tipping them off ahead of enforcement action.
Investigations revealed that the gang operated at the “second layer” of cyber fraud, where illicit funds obtained through scams were routed through multiple bank accounts to evade detection and facilitate withdrawal. Among those arrested are bank officials, agents, and individuals responsible for arranging mule accounts used to channel the stolen money.
FCRF Academy Launches Premier Anti-Money Laundering Certification Program
₹125 Crore Routed Through Mule Accounts
The case came to light during an ongoing probe into a large-scale cyber fraud linked to a gaming application, involving nearly ₹100 crore. During the investigation, authorities flagged several suspicious bank accounts showing unusually high transaction volumes. Further scrutiny revealed that accounts belonging to individuals such as delivery personnel and drivers were being used to circulate funds. In just three to four months, transactions worth around ₹125 crore were routed through these accounts.
According to investigators, the role of bank officials was crucial in sustaining the fraud network. Whenever requests were initiated to freeze accounts linked to cybercrime, these officials allegedly alerted the fraudsters in advance. This enabled the accused to swiftly withdraw funds before any enforcement action could take effect, thereby neutralising the impact of account-freezing measures.
Digital Arrest Case Linked to Kanpur Network
The probe also uncovered a separate but related case involving a businessman from Navi Mumbai who was duped through a “digital arrest” scam. In this instance, fraudsters extorted nearly ₹58 crore, of which ₹2.5 crore was traced to one of the accused accounts linked to the Kanpur network. Authorities further found that funds from at least 17 other cyber fraud cases across the country had been routed through the same network.
The accused were tracked using technical surveillance and alerts generated through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Multiple raids were conducted at different locations, leading to the arrest of all eight individuals. They have been remanded to judicial custody, and further investigation is underway to identify additional links and beneficiaries in the network.
Insider Access Emerges as Major Risk
In a related development, authorities had earlier arrested two employees of an online shopping company for siphoning off approximately ₹1.49 crore from the company’s digital wallet. The accused had in-depth knowledge of the internal system, which they exploited to carry out OTP-based transactions during late-night hours. Since OTPs were sent to official email accounts, the fraud went unnoticed as the transactions were executed when concerned officials were inactive.
Cybersecurity experts note that such crimes increasingly rely on a combination of social engineering and insider access. Renowned cybercrime expert and former IPS officer Prof. Triveni Singh said that cybercriminals are no longer dependent solely on technical vulnerabilities but are actively exploiting weaknesses within banking systems and human behavior.
