UP Police unearths Rs 4,200 crore frauds linked to Chinese operators

moneycontrol.com:

The Uttar Pradesh Police's cyber crime wing has unearthed pan-India frauds to the tune of Rs 4,200 crore linked to criminals based in China, a senior official said on Friday.

Police have tracked the connections in frauds related to crypto trading, instant loan lending apps and fake job advertisements through bulk SMSes to China, UP Cyber Crime Superintendent of Police Triveni Singh said.

Police had earlier this year found a link of China-based operators in cheating of crores of rupees from people across India through instant loan lending apps and part-time job offers in leading companies, he said. "We had earlier detected a scam worth around Rs 3,000 crore linked to China. But now their connection has also been established in frauds on the pretext of cryptocurrency trading through bogus and fake websites," Singh told PTI.

"These people now created fake websites and apps for crypto trading and lure people into investing money in return for huge profits. But in reality whatever profits they see is only on websites and apps while the investors never get any money back," the UP cyber police chief explained.

On how the money reaches the foreigners running such frauds, Singh said the funds first go to local Indian bank accounts and digital wallets of those associated with the scam. "The money is then transferred to Zebpay (a cryptocurrency exchange platform accessible in India) to Binance (an international crypto exchange platform) and then accessed by the masterminds of the whole scam," he added.

Singh said this is a huge racket and some of the operators are located in Nepal also but are ultimately being controlled from China. He said the Reserve Bank of India has also taken cognisance of such frauds and directed agencies