New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The CBI has arrested two alleged cybercriminals after conducting a massive countrywide search operation across 35 locations as part of a sweeping multinational crackdown on cyber-enabled financial crimes, officials said on Monday.
Operation CyStrike was launched on January 30 in coordination with the FBI in the United States and agencies of the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Ireland, and Singapore.
The CBI officers searched 35 locations across 10 states, including Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana and West Bengal.
The raids disrupted multiple cybercrime networks based in India that targeted victims in the United States, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Ireland, Singapore, and India, officials said.
Two individuals were arrested for being part of separate rackets busted by the agency during the operation.
“During search operations, CBI busted and dismantled a transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network being operated by the accused persons from New Delhi, targeting US victims online.
“Electronic devices, viz laptops, mobile phones, computer hard disks containing incriminating digital evidence related to the crime, were recovered and seized from the accused. The key operative was arrested on the spot,” the CBI spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
The central probe agency busted another transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network, operating from New Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Karnataka, using the domain name ‘eservicemoi-Kw.com’, under the guise of providing Kuwaiti e-Visas and offering appointments for working in leading Kuwait companies to Indian nationals in exchange for money, she said.
The search operation led to the seizure of electronic devices such as laptops, mobile phones, computer hard disks containing fake Kuwaiti e-Visas and appointment offer letters for working in leading Kuwait companies, besides cash of Rs 60 lakh, the spokesperson informed.
The agency arrested a member of this gang during the searches.
“The CBI also dismantled the transnational cybercrime networks being operated by the accused persons targeting victims from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore online and defrauding them. The mule accounts involved in channelising the proceeds of crime from the foreign victims to the accused persons were identified and taken down,” she added. PTI ABS RHL
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