Mumbai: Amid the rising complaints of online frauds, the Mumbai police have arrested a group of 10 people, hailing from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Delhi in a cybercrime case. The group was alleged involved in five cases in which victims cumulatively lost around Rs 1.47 crore. All 10 arrested have been remanded into police custody and further investigation into the on line racket is underway.
The victims were lured into investing in share markets through a fintech company. After which the money was laundered through hawala channels and a web of fraudulently created bank accounts, PTI reported, quoting an official.
Those held include Jayesh Unni (34), Arbaz Samir Khan (26) and Shailesh Purshottamdas Patel (53) from Navi Mumbai, Ajay Kumar Sukhdev Karche (51) from Malad, Amit Ram Singh (43) from Delhi, Hitesh Surat Singh (29) from Haryana, Nitin Chendwankar (47), Rajesh Sonawane (51) and Uday Salvi (47) from Mumbai.
The cases of cybercrime has a sharp rise in Maharashtra in the last couple of years. The city of Navi Mumbai have been registering maximum cyber frauds, with over 90 per cent rise in online crimes in 2023, reports say.
The tackle the alarming situation, the government launched Maha Cyber Security Command Center in Mhape, Navi Mumbai on Friday. It is India’s first state-level cybercrime command and control centre, having multiple channels of cybercrime reporting. To secure Maharashtra’s digital future through advanced online security, 5000 police personnel will be trained annually under the Maha Cyber Security project.
A dedicated helpline of the cybercrime command centre – 14407 – was announced. The centre is scheduled to start functioning at full capacity from October 15.
A 67-year-old retired man from Navi Mumbai trying to find his bank’s helpline number through Google fell victim to a cyber thief who impersonated as a bank employee. The scammer deceived him under the pretense of helping, and transferred Rs 4.54 lakh from his bank account to another account.
The Panvel city police have filed a complaint against the unknown cyber scammer for fraud and under the IT Act and have begun their investigation.
