Mumbai, Sep 17 (PTI) Mumbai Police have busted a major international cybercrime syndicate which supplied Indian WhatsApp numbers to foreign fraudsters through ‘OTP farming’, an official said on Thursday.
Three persons were arrested and 669 active SIM cards along with 100 mobile handsets seized from their possession, he said.
The operation was conducted by the Western Region Cyber Police of the Mumbai Crime Branch.
The arrested accused were identified as Pramod Kumar alias Bipin, Dharmendra Gupta and Rajiv Kumar Gupta.
According to police, the syndicate provided support to cybercriminals in Cambodia who cheated Indian citizens through stock market investment frauds.
The existence of the racket came to light after a person was duped of Rs 22.30 lakh. The fraudsters had contacted the victim on WhatsApp posing as representatives of a reputed investment firm and lured him with promises of high returns.
Explaining the modus operandi, a police official said Rajiv Gupta, a Point of Sale (POS) agent, activated SIM cards using documents of unsuspecting individuals without their knowledge. He then passed the cards to Pramod Kumar through Dharmendra Gupta for a commission.
Pramod inserted the SIMs into basic keypad handsets to run an “OTP farming” operation. Verification OTPs generated for Indian WhatsApp accounts were allegedly sold to Cambodia-based handlers via Telegram at USD 13 per OTP in cryptocurrency.
The foreign handlers then used these Indian WhatsApp numbers to target prospective victims. The proceeds of the crime were routed into rented mule bank accounts.
Police seized 91 keypad phones, nine smartphones, 669 active SIM cards, a CPU, a Wi-Fi router, a fingerprint scanner, and other accessories. Further probe is underway to trace other links in the network and identify additional victims, officials said. PTI ZA KRK
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