Telangana: Retired employee and daughter lose Rs 29.17 lakh in Hyderabad digital arrest scam

The Hyderabad City Cyber Crime Police have arrested two men involved in a highprofile digital arrest cyber fraud operation that defrauded a 63yearold retired employee and his daughter of Rs 2917668The syndicate laundered the illicit proceeds through mule bank accounts Cash Deposit Machines CDMs and cryptocurrency conversions using Tether USDTThe arrested suspects have been identified as Mohd Ashfaq Hussain 27 and Ahmed Najeeb Uddin 27 both businessmen residing in Ameerpet Hyderabad A third associate identified as Sachin a resident of Bengaluru remains abscondingThe case stems from a complaint filed by the 63yearold victim who was first targeted on March 3 Unidentified fraudsters contacted the victim falsely impersonating senior officials from the Delhi Police Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and Enforcement Directorate EDThe perpetrators falsely informed the complainant that he was implicated in a Rs 68 million money laundering investigation and threatened him with immediate arrest To establish credibility the cybercriminals sent forged official documents and alleged that his credentials and biometric fingerprints had been illegally misused in criminal activityCiting strict national security protocols the fraudsters coerced the victim and his daughter into keeping the investigation confidential Under the pretence of a mandatory financial verification process they instructed the victims to transfer their savings to designated accounts promising that the funds would be fully refunded once verified Intimidated by the threats the victims transferred Rs 2917668 before realising they had been scammed when the perpetrators severed communicationFollowing technical intelligence operations a police team led by Inspector K Narayana Reddy located and apprehended Hussain and Uddin in AmeerpetInterrogation revealed the mechanics of the laundering network Facing severe financial distress Hussain and Uddin connected with Bengalurubased Sachin via WhatsApp Uddin provided his bank account credentials to Hussain who passed them to Sachin to receive the victims stolen fundsAfter receiving the fraudulently obtained money the duo withdrew the cash using cheques Following Sachinrsquos directions they redistributed the physical cash across multiple bank accounts using Cash Deposit Machines CDMs to disrupt the audit trailSachin utilised the deposited cash to purchase Tether USDT cryptocurrency which was subsequently sold online for Indian rupees Hussain and Uddin received fixed commissions for managing the local logistics and banking operationsPolice seized two Apple iPhones from the suspects Preliminary findings link this specific network to at least 16 registered cyber fraud cases across IndiaThe arrested individuals have been booked under Information Technology Act Sections 66C and 66D Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS Sections 1112b 3184 3192 3363 338 and 3402The duo was produced before a local court in Hyderabad Authorities are actively working to locate the absconding suspect Sachin and identify remaining members of the interstate syndicateThe investigation was conducted under the direction of Deputy Commissioner of Police CCS DD S Chaitanya Kumar supervised by Assistant Commissioner of Police RG Siva Maruthi with field operations carried out by SubInspectors Monmohan Goud and G SivakumarThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever