How Rachkonda Cybercrime sleuths busted interstate gang of crypto-trading fraudsters

The accused have been identified as Nur Alam Haque (23), Ekram Hussain (23), and MD Ijarul (24) from West Bengal. Fourth accused Chotu Bhai alias Deepu Mondal is absconding.

Five mobile phones, six SIM cards, three bank cheque books, six ATM cards of different banks were seized from the accused. Police also froze the bank accounts of the accused. Around Rs 50 lakhs were deposited in these accounts

The accused Chota Bhai used various names of shell companies like Bitzium Technology Private Limited, Cargo Solutions, Curved Har Productions, Harch Aran Enterprises, and fleeced money in the name of investments from victims. They later invested the money in cryptocurrency.

Nur AlamHaque, a friend of Chota Bhai, is a bank employee at Siliguri district West Bengal. Police said they opened 64 different bank accounts and procured various SIM cards in the names of illiterate villagers with the help of Ekram and Ijarul.

Both Ekram and Ijarul helped in procuring the id credentials of the villagers by offering them petty commissions. They later collected their ATM Cards, cheque books, and internet banking credentials. They further used these details for crediting the fraudulent amounts transferred from the victims' accounts.

Chota Bhai and Nur Alam Haque contacted the victims using various virtual numbers and lured them to deposit more money into their accounts in the name of crypto investments. Once the money got credited into the accounts, the accused purchased cryptocurrency through the app `Zebpay'.

Rachakonda police cautioned the public not to get lured by such online investment offers and get victimized by cybercriminals.