HYDERABAD: Just about 21-years-old, Lakkan Arora, who works in a data entry job in Jaipur, is involved in 194 cybercrime cases across India, said Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) Director Shikha Goel, pointing at an excel sheet, detailing each case and the states from which the victims hailed.
Arora allegedly opened a bank account and lent it to cyber fraudsters for criminal activities. Everytime a victim transferred money into his bank account, he would then transfer it to another account based on the instructions he received. In return, he earned a commission. This is how mule accounts work, Goel explained.
Arora is among the 27 individuals arrested by the TGCSB in September during its first interstate special operation in Rajasthan. The focus of the four teams that camped in Rajasthan was to catch hold of those who operated mule accounts.
“The accused operated 29 mule accounts with suspicious transactions totaling Rs 11.01 crore based on initial estimates,” Goel said. “They are involved in 2,223 cybercrimes across India, including 189 cases in Telangana, with total losses amounting Rs 9 crores,” she added. Their accounts were linked to investment fraud, trading fraud and digital scams.
Speaking on the commission received by the mule account operators, Goel said, “Commission rates range from Rs 50,000 to several lakhs. If the account used for the crime is active, the commission would be higher.”
The Special Operations Wing of the TGCSB conducted raids in various locations across Rajasthan, including Jaipur, Jodhpur and Nagaur to arrest the accused. They received real-time technical support from a team in Hyderabad.
The accused are currently in Hyderabad on transit warrants and have been lodged in various jails. The police have identified 33 additional cybercriminals during the operation, who will soon be apprehended.
“We arrested only those involved in multiple cases,” Goel stated, explaining that if one person’s account is used for numerous criminal transactions, they are willingly assisting cyber fraudsters for financial gain.
“All the accused are educated and are being arrested for the first time although they have been involved in multiple cases,” Goel said, lauding the efforts of the TGCSB.
The main aim of this operation was to break the supply chain of illicit bank accounts for facilitating cybercrimes, the official added.