In a major breakthrough, the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) Unit of Jammu and Kashmir Police has busted a very high-tech and international cyber fraud racket.
Taking prompt action, the police raided a fake call center running in Srinagar and arrested 7 suspects. The network of this gang extended to foreign countries and they used to make local citizens as well as foreigners their victims.
‘Operational Hub’ was running in Rangreth Industrial Area
According to officials, CIK had received technical information about these secret call centres. Special teams of technical experts and field operatives collected digital intelligence and identified the main operational hub of this racket in Rangreth Industrial Area of Srinagar. After this, these seven accused were arrested by conducting simultaneous raids in different parts of Srinagar.
High-end gadgets worth lakhs recovered in the raid
Police have seized a large amount of digital and communication equipment (Digital Evidence) from the arrested accused, which includes:
- Smartphones: 2 iPhone 17, 3 iPhone 16, 2 iPhone 11, 2 iPhone 10, 1 Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, 1 Redmi 11T 5G, 1 Narzo 50A and 1 Redmi Note 7 Pro.
- Laptops and Tablets: 2 Apple MacBooks, 3 Dell laptops, 4 HP laptops and 1 Apple iPad.
- Other devices: VoIP systems, networking devices, SIM cards, and digital storage media.
What was the modus operandi of the fraud?
According to officials, this racket was very technologically advanced and used new tactics for cheating. The accused had created international virtual numbers through server routing and spoofing using VoIP technology, so that their real location could not be known. This gang used to create fake websites and links that look like Yahoo Mail and Google Ads. On clicking these, a toll-free number was visible, which was directly connected to these fraudsters.
According to officials, the accused used to obtain sensitive banking information from the victims by posing as legitimate customer service officers. To protect the fraudulent amount from being traced, it was routed through ‘Mule Accounts’ and cryptocurrency wallets (mainly USDT).
More arrests likely
Police said that many important clues have been found in the seized devices, which point towards a well-planned international criminal network. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the law. Police believe that the links of this racket are also connected outside India, hence more big arrests may be made in the coming days.