VIJAYAWADA: The Cybercrime Wing of Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department, along with the Department of Telecommunications, has busted an international cybercrime network by arresting 14 persons, including a foreign national.
Disclosing this to newsmen on Friday, Cybercrime SP Adhiraj Singh Rana said criminals from various countries procured highly advanced communication devices, and looted more than Rs 20 crore from around 60 persons. The network had caused a huge revenue loss to the DoT.
The CID seized 1,496 SIM cards, 14 SIM boxes, 22 mobile phones, eight routers, seven cameras, three UPS, and one laptop from the gang.
The cyberfraudsters mainly from South East Asian countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, used SIP softphones operating on laptops to route internet-based VoIP calls to foreign VoIP and SIP servers. These calls reached the FTTH broadband connection installed at the local operators residing in India.
“The SIM box connected to this broadband converted international calls into local GSM calls, and routed them though multiple Indian SIM cards installed in the SIM box to various mobile network towers. As a result, the call received by the victim appeared to be from the Indian number, and people are being cheated in the name of OTP and job scams, investment frauds and other crimes,” he said.
Customs officials alerted to hold thorough inspections
The investigation into fraudulent international network started with a complaint lodged through the Chakshu module of the Sanchar Sathi portal of the DoT regarding the suspicious calls. After a departmental inquiry, the DoT confirmed the illegal SIM box operations. Later, the CID registered a case. Acting on the directions of CID chief Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, several teams conducted raids in Goa, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha, Visakhapatnam and Bihar, and arrested 14 persons, including a Vietnam national, for their involvement in the racket.
“The accused clandestinely imported SIM boxes manufactured in China in the guise of power amplifiers through courier services using fake names, and temporary addresses, and installed them in the houses where they were operating the network. The accused were also collecting SIM cards using fake fingerprints, e-KYC, ID cards, and other documents, and using them for committing various cybercrimes,” the SP elaborated.
“In order to prevent illegal imports, we have alerted the Customs Department to conduct a thorough inspection of electronic gadgets, and communication devices. The Vietnamese national came to India to train members of the gang in the operation of SIM boxes. It is a huge network with multiple layers of organised crime patterns” the SP said.
DoT Deputy Director General Hemanth Rathwae urged people to cooperate with the Telecom Department.