CBI nabs three for their involvement in 'digital arrest' scam

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) The CBI on Wednesday nabbed three persons for allegedly defrauding a senior citizen from Kerala's Kottayam of a huge sum of money through 'digital arrest', officials said.

The arrests were made during a search operation spread across six states -- Goa, Karnataka (Bengaluru), Kerala (Palakkad), Maharashtra (Nagpur), Telangana (Hyderabad) and Delhi, they said.

Using "meticulous digital forensics and financial trail analysis", the CBI exposed the actors of the technically sophisticated and organisationally diffused network spanning multiple states, with indications of international linkages.

After identifying the persons involved, the CBI began a crackdown on Wednesday with a synchronised search and arrest operations targeting two critical components of the cyber-fraud ecosystem -- mule bank account networks and fraudulently procured SIM cards, a CBI spokesperson said.

The searches resulted in the seizure of digital devices, debit cards, bank account documents, and other incriminating materials, which are undergoing forensic examination, the official said.

"A mule account operator was arrested from a hotel in Goa. The accused is suspected to have played a key role in operating mule accounts and facilitating cryptocurrency transactions linked to this fraud," she said, adding that several digital devices containing incriminating data were seized from him.

The CBI also arrested a shell company operator from Nagpur for managing mule accounts through his company. Several debit cards and digital devices were recovered from the premises linked to him, the spokesperson said.

Moreover, a SIM card fraud facilitator was arrested in Bengaluru.

"He was involved in procuring SIM cards fraudulently. He allegedly duped unsuspecting individuals by offering "5G SIM upgrades," misusing their KYC documents to activate SIM cards that were subsequently used in cyber-fraud operations believed to originate from abroad," the CBI spokesperson said. PTI ABS NSD NSD