Police here said they were investigating eight fraudsters with links to cybercriminals in China who duped people by promising them easy money from investments, trading and work-from-home schemes.
According to them, the racket spans states including Haryana, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, and complainants from these states have reported losses amounting to around ₹1.77 crore.
The eight men, all below 29 years, were arrested here by a joint team of the Cyber Crime Cell and Cyber Crime Police Station in Lucknow, which busted an international cyber fraud racket operated in collaboration with Chinese cybercriminals through Telegram.
After their commission, the suspects transferred the embezzled money to their operators in China through cryptocurrency Tether (USDT), police added.
“During the operation on Tuesday, police seized ₹1.75 lakh in cash, 12 mobile phones, 13 debit cards, two passbooks, and three cheque books from the accused,” said DCP-Crime Kamlesh Dixit.
According to the DCP, the accused were acting as local operatives for the Chinese cybercriminals and used Telegram channels such as “32-105/1”, “32-105/3”, and “32-105/5 PAYGir G0!” to receive instructions.
The suspects were identified as Rahul Sonkar (22), Mohammad Salman (28), Devansh Shukla (19), Raj Rawat (21), Faizan (21), Mojiz (21), Ankit Yadav (22), and Karan Rawat (19). All are residents of Lucknow.
“The suspects lured economically weaker individuals into opening bank accounts under the pretext of earning easy money. The credentials of these accounts, cheque books, debit cards, and internet banking details were then shared with their handlers in China,” said Dixit.
Cyber Crime Police station SHO Brijesh Yadav said, “The funds, collected under the guise of online trading, digital arrests, task cards, and work-from-home schemes, were transferred into these accounts. The accused withdrew the money before the accounts could be flagged or frozen. A portion of the fraudulently obtained money was kept as commission while the rest was converted into cryptocurrency (USDT) and sent to Chinese digital wallets.”
An FIR has been registered under sections 317(2), 318(4), 61(2)(B) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66C of the IT Act at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Lucknow. The seized bank account data has been uploaded on the Cyber Crime Reporting Portal for further cross-verification and action.