China-linked cybercrime thwarted, says Tamil Nadu Police

In an ongoing investigation into an investment scam, police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have announced that they successfully identified and traced eight victims of a China-linked investment fraud. The victims are said to include individuals from across India: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. The respective State Cyber Police units have been alerted, thereby preventing further financial exploitation by the scammers, said the Tamil Nadu Police.

According to the Tamil Nadu Police, their Data Analysis and Intelligence Operation, led by Shahnaz Illyas, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime Wing, identified mule accounts under the direct influence of Chinese scamsters. A banking mule account is one that is used to transfer illegally acquired money. Typically, criminals recruit money mules by offering them jobs such as ‘financial agent’ or ‘payment processor’ and offer them easy money for moving funds between accounts and keeping the information secret.

Based on this initial information, the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing contacted the Fraud Risk Management Team of multiple banks and placed the suspected accounts under surveillance.

“A thorough investigation into the suspicious banking activities linked to the cybercriminal gang uncovered several high-value transactions from outside the country. These findings point to the existence of an organised international fraud network operating with considerable sophistication,” said the police.

They identified individuals from six different states who appeared to be victims of the fraud but had not yet filed formal complaints, indicating that the exploitation is ongoing and possibly expanding. The Cyber Crime wings of the other Indian states have also confirmed that the victims appeared to be under the influence of fraudsters using investment scam tactics to lure them into transferring large sums of money under false pretenses of high returns.

The preemptive intervention and freezing of the suspicious transaction by the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing helped in preventing huge sums of money from going into the hands of the international cybercriminals. Also, if left undeterred, the victims would have been subjected to more financial loss by investing in the fake investing website, said the police.

Meanwhile, the police have issued an advisory, urging people not to fall for unrealistic investment schemes promising high returns.