AHMEDABAD: In a breakthrough, the Gujarat Police Cyber Crime Cell, Surat, has arrested the alleged mastermind of an interstate cyber fraud racket that used fake data entry jobs, mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency transactions to siphon off crores of rupees.
The accused, identified as Lovely alias Sameer alias Ravi Arora, was traced to Chennai after an intensive technical surveillance operation and arrested by the cybercrime team.
Police said the accused was allegedly working with a Chinese-linked cyber fraud network and was responsible for providing mule bank accounts through which illegally obtained money was allegedly routed and converted into USDT before being moved to Dubai.
The investigation took a major turn after police recovered 14 mobile phones, three laptops and SIM cards from the accused’s Chennai residence.
Examination of the devices allegedly revealed details of 34 bank accounts, against which 113 cybercrime complaints have been registered across India, involving fraud of more than ₹33.14 crore.
33 lakh job seekers targeted
The racket, however, allegedly had another lucrative trap. According to Surat Cyber Crime DCP Vishakha Jain, the accused had access to data of more than 33 lakh job seekers, allegedly sourced from job-providing websites.
The data was then used to contact unemployed youths and lure them with promises of work-from-home data entry jobs. Call centres operating in different cities allegedly contacted prospective victims and offered them data entry work.
The victims were asked to pay around ₹5,000 on the pretext of registration, security or other job-related requirements. But once the money was collected, the promised job allegedly turned into another fraud.
Surat Cyber Crime DCP Vishakha Jain said the accused used a bogus software platform called ‘Care Compass’ for the data entry work. After victims completed the assigned work, they were allegedly told that their entries lacked the required “accuracy” and therefore they would not be paid.
The victims were then allegedly subjected to repeated excuses, with neither the promised payment nor their deposited money being returned. Investigators said the racket had allegedly collected more than ₹3.35 crore from over 750 people under the guise of providing data entry jobs.
Investment trap added another layer
The fraud network allegedly did not stop at fake employment. Police also found that investors were allegedly lured with promises of high returns from dollar-denominated investments in the stock market.
In one such case cited by Surat Cyber Crime Police, a trader was allegedly cheated of ₹1.52 crore after being drawn into an investment group.
Explaining the modus operandi, Surat Cyber Crime DCP Vishakha Jain said the victim was first added to a group and subsequently given an ID through a link. “The trader was shown through a bogus link that he had made substantial profits in gold-related investments.
However, when he tried to withdraw the displayed profit, the money could not be withdrawn. That was when he realised that he had been cheated and approached the police,” Jain said.
Main accused traced after interrogation
The investigation initially led police to other members of the network. Four alleged accomplices from Ahmedabad, Uttar Pradesh and Rajkot had already been arrested in connection with the racket.
During the investigation, police arrested an accused identified as Shoaib, whose interrogation allegedly provided crucial leads about the main accused. According to DCP Jain, the investigation revealed that Ravi Arora had travelled to Dubai several times and had previously held Dubai citizenship. Police also found that he had been operating a US Forex-related website in Dubai, but returned to India after suffering losses. The accused, originally from Rohtak in Haryana, had reportedly been living in Mumbai for around 11 years before moving into the cyber fraud network, police said. Technical surveillance eventually showed that he was operating from Chennai.
Two-day rickshaw reconnaissance helped police close in
With the accused maintaining operational secrecy, the cybercrime team adopted an unusual strategy to track him down. Police personnel allegedly went undercover and conducted reconnaissance in Chennai for two days, travelling around in rickshaws to verify the accused’s movements and location. After confirming his whereabouts, the team moved in and arrested him. The search of his premises led to the seizure of 14 mobile phones, three laptops and SIM cards, which investigators are now examining for further links to the network.
Bank accounts reveal wider national footprint
The digital evidence recovered during the operation has widened the investigation considerably. Police said the devices contained details of 34 bank accounts allegedly used in the racket. These accounts have been linked to 113 complaints registered across different parts of India, with the combined suspected fraud amount exceeding ₹33.14 crore. Investigators are now examining the complete transaction trail to establish how money moved from victims to mule accounts and eventually into cryptocurrency and overseas channels.
The police are also analysing the seized laptops to identify the source of the 33 lakh job seeker records, the people who supplied the data and the network of call centres allegedly used to approach victims.
Chinese gang link under scanner
The suspected involvement of a Chinese-linked cybercrime network has added another dimension to the investigation. Police suspect that the accused acted as a crucial financial link by supplying mule bank accounts, enabling the laundering of fraud proceeds through cryptocurrency.
Investigators are now working to establish the identities of the larger network members, the exact role of overseas handlers and the extent to which the accused’s bank accounts were used to convert and transfer fraud proceeds through USDT and Dubai-linked channels.
The Cyber Crime Cell is also expected to examine whether the same infrastructure was used in other cyber fraud cases that have not yet been linked to the accused.
With the arrest of the alleged mastermind and the recovery of multiple digital devices, police now hope to unravel the full money trail, the data supply chain and the wider interstate and international network behind the racket.