Cyberfraud of Rs 77cr busted: 16 held in mule account network across Gujarat, Goa

Ahmedabad: The Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), Gujarat, on Monday arrested 16 persons for allegedly operating a mule account network linked to cyberfraud exceeding Rs 77 crore across the country. The network, spread across Vadodara, Palanpur and Goa, is linked to 375 cybercrime complaints registered on the national 1930 portal.Police said a team conducted raids at multiple locations based on intelligence inputs. During the investigation, more than 260 bank account details were recovered from the mobile phones of the accused.According to officials, the accused opened bank accounts in their names and in the names of others. These accounts were then provided to associates involved in cyberfraud and gaming-related offences. The accounts were used for receiving and transferring funds. Investigators said some of the accused created three firms and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of these entities. These accounts were also supplied to other members of the network.The accused arrested from Palanpur allegedly opened bank accounts and passed them on to others in the network. Those arrested from Goa were allegedly involved in transferring funds through these accounts. Police said communication records recovered from electronic devices show contact with persons based outside India through WhatsApp and Telegram.During the raids, police seized 15 laptops, 72 mobile phones, 126 sim cards, 115 debit cards, 80 passbooks, cheque books, routers, pen drives and documents. Data recovered from these devices includes bank account details, login credentials, transaction records and chat exchanges.Police said the accounts were used in cases related to digital arrest fraud, investment fraud, UPI-related fraud, loan fraud, deposit fraud, part-time job fraud and gaming fraud. The transactions linked to these accounts are being verified.Officials said the accused operated on a commission basis by providing bank accounts and related documents. The role of each accused and the flow of funds are under investigation.