New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): In a big breakthrough against cybercrime, Delhi Police have arrested 14 persons operating a large-scale racket at Jamtara in Jharkhand, a place dubbed as a hub of cyber frauds.
Those arrested during the raids included two high-profile cyber thugs identified as Ghulam Ansari and Altaf alias Rockstar, the police said.
The arrests came after a weeklong operation against cyber frauds. Raids were conducted at Jamtara, Deoghar, Giridih, and Jamui areas in Jharkhand.
The police said that Jamtara has recently emerged as the biggest hub of cyber frauds and therefore an operation against cybercrime was launched.
The group was targeting people impersonating as bank employees and government officials. They used to create fake websites of popular e-commerce platforms to attract people and would prompt them to make UPI transaction in the belief of getting welfare benefits.
"They were operating in an organised manner. They used to make calls to 40-50 persons per day. Of these, three to four people would become their victims daily. They worked in a large group from secret hideouts outside villages," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime), Anyesh Roy, said.
The cyber thugs were operating from remote areas so that they could easily keep an eye on the movement of the police. Their crime activities were confined not just to Jharkhand or Bihar, but also in other states such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana and Delhi.
The police said the victims were duped in the name of various banks, e-commerce platforms, courier services, grocery delivery services, online shopping platforms etc.
Also, the fraudsters used to contact Anganwadi workers of the area after accessing their contact details. They would also contact pregnant women and tell them that they will receive a link for the receipt of Rs 5,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
"After obtaining the bank details, they would deduct money from their accounts," the police said.