Gang of cyber cons operating from Pak border busted; 4 held

Varanasi: Cyber crime police busted a gang of cyber frauds operating from the Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan along the Pakistan border.The gang members had come on the radar of the police when they duped a local woman of Rs 27 lakhs in the name of investment. The gang was operating from various countries.Producing the cyber cons before reporters, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Pramod Kumar said that a team from the cyber crime police station of Varanasi commissionerate arrested Prince Khod (20), Ashish Vishnoi (23), Harish Vishnoi (21) and Mandeep Singh (26) from Sri Ganganagar. The arrests were made after tracing digital footprints, electronic surveillance and analysing bank and Telegram accounts and websites used by this gang. The cops recovered debit cards, cheque books, welcome letters, SIM cards, mobile phones and Rs 30,000 in cash from them. During the investigation, the cops found that the gang had generated fake websites resembling those of major brands to attract part-time job seekers and investors interested in earning good interest in a short span. After anyone fell into their trap they immediately started the process of money transfer. To dodge the cops, the gang members used IP addresses from China, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Dubai and other countries.Once the money is transferred to the account of the cyber frauds, the share of agents instrumental in the process of money transfer is paid. Most of such agents operate from South East Asian or Gulf countries, said officials.The gang, which was operated from Sri Ganganagar along the Pakistan border by international hacker Ashish Bishnoi, had come on the radar of the police after one Ajay Kumar Srivastava of Mahmoorganj locality in Varanasi lodged an FIR with the cyber crime police station on August 8, alleging that Rs 27.25 lakh had been duped by the gang of cyber frauds in the name of investment in education and training programmes.