HYDERABAD: During a probe into cases of Pakistan lottery fraud, Hyderabad police revealed they had stumbled upon a hawala racket being run in Arab countries. They found that crooks had been making calls to Indian citizens from Arab countries using pre-activated Pakistan mobile numbers (+92) and distributing money deposited by the victims to hundreds of families in Bihar.According to police, this is the modus operandi: Workers in Arab countries are asked to deposit their earnings, meant for their families in India, with several agents in the country in which they reside. Their families are paid with money deposited by lottery fraud victims in India.
The fraud victims are reportedly told to deposit money into bank accounts managed by the crooks who lure them with the promise of huge monetary returns. About hundred such cases have been reported in Hyderabad in the last five years in which Old City residents were duped in this manner. An investigation into these cases is what, police said, led them to the Pakistan-based hawala racket. A cyber crime officer said that the kingpin of the racket is suspected to be operating from Pakistan.
Some agents approach Indians, especially those from Bihar, in Gulf countries and convince them to send money home through them for no extra charges. The money given to the workers’ families, however, comes from cyber fraud earnings. Police traced holders of bank accounts, into which these cyber fraud earning were deposited, to Bihar.
When these account holders were questioned, police found that an agent had collected their bank accounts details and was paying them nominal amounts each month as commission for use of the account. The numbers from which the crooks called to lure fraud victims were of pre-activated Pakistani SIM cards but calls were made from Arab countries, the officer said. “So far only agents based in India have been arrested. One from Kerala was arrested this year. There are agents in various states, but so far only two complaints have been received,” the officer said.
Team went to Bihar
The ultimate beneficiary of the scam is the Pakistan-based kingpin, the cyber crime officer said. A cyber crime police team from Hyderabad went to Bihar over the past week. The officer said apprehension of the kingpin would be difficult.