ED raids 11 locations in cyber fraud probe spanning Delhi, Noida, Gurugram & Dehradun

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted search operations across eleven locations on Wednesday situated in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Dehradun in connection with an alleged global cyber fraud, sources said.

As per sources, people from the country and also foreign nationals were duped by the cyber fraudsters impersonating technical support executives, cops and investigating officers from agencies and others.

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The probe conducted by the anti-money laundering agency so far in the matter has revealed that the accused persons accrued around Rs 260 crore in form of Bitcoins across multiple crypto-wallets, which were further liquidated into cash through conversion into USDTs through multiple ‘hawala’ operators.

The extortions were carried out as part of a cybercrime racket, where people were threatened with consequences such as arrest, digital detention, and more.

The ED is investigating the matter under provisions of the PMLA, and the case filed by the agency stems from FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Delhi Police.

It has also been revealed that the accused had also posed as agents and customer support executives belonging to global e-commerce platforms and software giants, and accordingly duped the gullible customers on pretext of fixing their issues.

They used to convert the monetary assets or victims’ funds into crypto currencies, which were further transferred to accused persons, and the money was accessed by them through different means.

It has also been revealed as per the agency’s probe that the accused allegedly liquidated the digital funds into cash through multiple hawala operators and unknown individuals in the UAE. Further investigation is underway in the matter.