Agra Police Arrested A High-Tech Gang Employing VPNs, SIM Swapping, Telegram, and WhatsApp to Defraud Individuals. -

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Agra Police Arrested A High-Tech Gang Employing VPNs, SIM Swapping, Telegram, and WhatsApp to Defraud Individuals.

Agra, Uttar Pradesh: A person linked to a cybercrime case under Case No. 0072/2024 was effectively captured as part of the Agra Cyber Crime branch’s ongoing efforts. Aftab Khurshid Khan, the accused, was apprehended for crimes under sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 3(5) BNS 2023, and 66(D) of the IT Act, which relates to forgery and other forms of cyber fraud. The accused was apprehended in possession of a Redmi 9 Power mobile phone.

Incident Summary

Anil Magan, a resident of 71 Surya Nagar, Hari Parvat Police Station, Agra, filed a complaint, which led to the initiation of the case. He disclosed that an unauthorized individual had gained access to the bank account of his company. Through the use of a virtual private network (VPN), the perpetrators gained access to his email account and, on July 7 and 8, unlawfully transferred a total of ₹77,93,000 to a number of other bank accounts.

After discovering the unauthorized transactions, the complainant filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station in Agra on July 9, 2024. This was done despite the fact that the complainant had not disclosed any personal information regarding the company’s account to any other individual.

Modus Operandi

Along with his accomplices, the accused who was apprehended gained unauthorized access to the registered mobile number and email ID that were associated with the account of M/S SHROFF SALES CORPORATION, which is the company with which the complaint is affiliated. To intercept the one-time passwords that were necessary to add beneficiary information to the account, they switched the SIM card that was associated with the registered mobile phone.

A hacker gained access to the email address that was associated with the company’s bank account. By employing the compromised email, one-time passwords were circumvented, which enabled the transfer of ₹77,93,000 to a number of different accounts on July 7 and 8. During these transactions, the crooks concealed their activity by using virtual private networks (VPNs) and tools from the dark web. After some time had passed, it was discovered that ₹60 Lakh came from the stolen money and was used to buy gold.

Investigation Insights

The inquiry revealed that the perpetrators were associated with more than five or six groups on various platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram. This was discovered over the course of the investigation. Their illegal actions were carried out with the use of false SIM cards and overseas mobile phone numbers, which allowed them to mask their personal identities.

About The Author:

Yogesh Naager is a content marketer who specializes in the cybersecurity and B2B space. Besides writing for the News4Hackers blogs, he also writes for brands including Craw Security, Bytecode Security, and NASSCOM.