Cyber fraud, scam calls, identity theft, impersonation – variations of cybercrime, which originated from Jharkhand’s nondescript village Jamtara, slowly spread over the rural hinterland of northern and western India, from Haryana’s Nuh to Rajasthan’s Bharatpur over the past five years, with the pandemic giving it a boost. And it has not taken long for the gangs to reach urban locations in a fancier, bigger and bolder way.
They are now organized, with sophisticated technology, overseas connections, often with hawala and crypto networks. From the USA to UK and Australia, their network has crossed borders, duping hundreds of foreign nationals.
West Bengal’s posh IT hub – Salt Lake (Bidhannagar) and Newtown – is one such location that has seen a rise in organised rackets crawling their way into the web of cybercrime.
Bidhannagar Clean-Up
In a massive clean-up operation over the past 10 months, the Bidhannagar Police has busted 64 fake international call centres and illegal placement agencies. Over 700 persons involved in the illegal cyber operations have been arrested. Investigation into a few cases have led to instances of money laundering, offshore connections, hawala networks and crypto currency rackets.
“Over the past 10 months, we have busted almost 64 cyber fraud rackets, including fake international call centres and fake placement agencies. At least 721 persons were arrested in connection with the cases of cyber fraud and related crimes. Unlike other places, these people function with sophisticated instruments and operate from swanky offices. They create a fake, but believable facade to convince people. They illegally buy the lists of customers, with all personal details, from various organisations, including service providers, banks and e-commerce platforms. These fraudsters operate through multiple layers of technologies to mask their existence," said Gaurav Sharma, commissioner of police (CP), Bidhannagar.
TWO SITs, INTELLIGENCE UNITS
With rising complaints and inputs, the commissioner has constituted two special investigation teams (SIT) under senior officers to streamline and accelerate the investigation process for the illegal international call centres and fake placement agencies. In cases where the US and Canadian nationals have been duped, the Bidhannagar Police has teamed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Canadian police to get statements from the victims living abroad and to initiate other legal proceedings.
Earlier this month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing the two-day G20 conference over cybercrimes, had said that “cyber frauds pose a major threat to the security of citizens across the globe". The issues related to cyber attacks, which include ransomware attack at several significant installations, and other cyber threats and frauds, were also discussed at the DGP conference held in Delhi in April. To ramp up the investigation and strengthen intelligence gathering, the central government has formed multiple agencies, groups of cyber volunteers and designated nodal agencies across states to tackle the evolving ways of cybercrime and cyber fraud.
“We have our own intelligence units. Apart from that, we keep getting inputs from state and central agencies. In case of victims who are foreign nationals, we contact the police units concerned or the consulate offices of that particular country. Often, it becomes very difficult for us to get a statement from the victims who were robbed. However, international agencies such as the FBI, Canadian and European police organisations and the US consulate are cooperating and helping us get victims’ statements/ complaints, which are needed for the legal procedures. We have initiated multiple online and offline programmes to make people aware of various types of cyber frauds," added Sharma.
URBAN THUGS’ WAYS TO FAKE
Unlike the cyber gangs of Jamtara, which are primarily into domestic phishing calls, the urban thugs, flourishing in Bengal’s IT hub, come to their chic offices in corporate attires, access the bank accounts of the victims by offering them medical aid insurances, loans, lucrative jobs, negotiating deliveries from e-commerce platforms, fix deals for installation of mobile towers and warning consumers of possible disconnection of electricity due to unpaid bills.
Since September 2022, the Bidhannagar Police has seized around 936 electronic devices, including 154 computers, 698 mobile phones, 55 hard discs, 36 routers and multiple incriminating documents such as digital files, consumer lists of banks, mobile service providers and other utility platforms.
“The rackets illegally get hold of the details of consumers. We were surprised to see that they get access to loan details, usage of electricity units, personals details, Aadhaar numbers, medical cases and so on. Banks and other service providers should run regular checks inside their organisations, as they deal with classified details of their consumers," said a senior police officer, who is part of the investigation team. Over the past 10 months, around Rs 1.5 crore was blocked after receiving complaints, while around Rs 35 lakh was returned to the victims, added the officer.
In a letter dated February 21, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) — the MHA’s nodal agency to tackle matters related to cybercrime — wrote to states and UTs that cybercriminals are “cloning" the biometric data of Aadhaar users uploaded on states’ registry websites that host sale deeds and agreements. The state governments were also advised to direct the revenue and other departments concerned to mask the fingerprints and biometric data of Aadhaar users uploaded on the registry websites that host sale deeds and agreements.
CALL CENTRES TO CRYPTO
In the course of investigation, some international call centre rackets led to organised hawala and crypto rackets. In a specific case in December 2022, the Bidhannagar Police cracked an international cyber fraud racket which was connected to crypto currency rackets. “An amount of Rs 55 lakh in cryptocurrency was blocked in the channel. We submitted our report to the nodal agencies. During investigation into such cases, we often stumble upon hawala networks that launder money to overseas locations," said a source.
However, there is complication due to the legal status of crypto currencies. It is not banned. “We seek reports from the crypto operators, but they are not legally bound to oblige us. At times, the investigation sees a dead end. In case of money laundering or hawala operators, we can only submit our reports to the agencies concerned," added the source.
Some of the international call centre rackets are operated by some foreign ‘mule accounts’. A “money mule" or a mule account is created by impersonating someone or by using a stolen identity. These money mules – individuals or groups – are then used to transfer illicit funds to other accounts. They become part of a logistical network that moves money into the pockets of criminals. The mule accounts can willingly or unwillingly or unknowingly become part of the racket.
CHALLENGES FOR COPS
Even though cybercrime has come to the fore in case of criminal law-related discussions in all government fora, investigators face steep challenges while probing such cases. The raids take place based on a tip-off come from the source network, intelligence inputs from different agencies, disgruntled employees and a few complaints from the victims.
“In most cases, victims do not come forward to lodge complaints. They have trust issues. We often pursue them to register a complaint. The victims should contact police immediately after they are robbed of their money. However, in most cases, victims stay silent. The trails get cold," said the officer.
“In case of foreign nationals, we write to the agencies concerned in the respective countries. Of late, we are receiving help and cooperation from the consulate offices of the USA and UK," he added.
The cases are lodged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of forgery, criminal conspiracy, cheating, stealing and relevant sections of Information Technology (IT) Act.
In relation to the challenges in dealing with cryptocurrency cases and other cyber frauds, some proposals were put forward during the DG conference in Delhi in April. Procedural amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act (IEA) were proposed to allow insertion of new provisions related to investigation, freezing and forfeiture proceedings in investigations related to virtual assets, and for evidentiary standards of recovered materials and for international cooperation, said a senior police officer who was part of the conference.
“Legal amendments to classify certain cyber offences as organised crimes by the MHA were also proposed. Suggestions included bringing regulations related to loan apps and payment aggregators by the Ministry of Finance," he added.
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