Five held in Rs 13.80 crore cyber fraud racket linked to China

Gurugram police have arrested five suspects in connection with a Rs 13.80 crore cyber fraud operation with links to China, authorities said Tuesday. The investigation revealed that the accused had established contact with the cybercriminal network through Telegram, a messaging platform commonly used by organised fraud rings to coordinate illegal activities.

The suspects provided their bank accounts to the syndicate, which were subsequently used to receive stolen funds from cyber fraud victims and facilitate their transfer to other accounts. This money laundering operation enabled the criminal network to obscure the trail of illicit proceeds and extract funds from India.

Police said the accused played a crucial intermediary role in the broader fraud ecosystem, providing infrastructure that allowed the offshore-based syndicate to profit from crimes perpetrated against Indian citizens. The investigation is ongoing to identify additional members of the network and trace the flow of laundered money.

Official records indicate this case is part of a growing trend of international cyber fraud syndicates operating from jurisdictions in East and Southeast Asia, using local accomplices in India to process stolen funds. Authorities have intensified efforts to dismantle such networks and have appealed to the public to report suspicious banking activities.