Cyber fraud: Probe uncovers crores in cryptocurrency

The Parwanoo police have uncovered a massive digital fraud case, revealing transactions worth crores by an inter-state gang that duped a local resident of Rs 18.5 lakh. While Rs 10 lakh has been recovered, investigations are ongoing.

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The case began in October 2024 when a Mumbai resident, currently living in Sector 3, Parwanoo, received a fraudulent call from a man posing as Ajit Rao from DHL courier service. The caller falsely claimed that the complainant’s Aadhaar card had been used to send an illegal drug parcel to China. Rao then connected the complainant to another fraudster, Vinay Kumar, who impersonated a CBI officer.

Kumar falsely accused the complainant of involvement in a Rs 538 crore money laundering case linked to a Canara Bank manager and one Naresh Goyal. Using threats and coercion, Kumar manipulated the complainant into transferring Rs 18.65 lakh in installments to his account.

Solan SP Gaurav Singh revealed that the gang had been operating across Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal for a long time. A forensic analysis of the accused’s mobile phones and bank accounts exposed transactions amounting to Rs 2–3 crore in cryptocurrency, including UDTS, Bitcoin and US dollars, earned through cyber fraud.

The Parwanoo police made their first arrest on December 29, nabbing Anil Chaudhary (21) from Beawar, Rajasthan. Further investigations led to the arrest of Palraj (32) from Narayanasamy Nagar, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was booked under Section 35(3) of the BNSS for his involvement in the scam.

The probe revealed that Rs 3 lakh from the complainant’s funds had been fraudulently transferred to a Bandhan Bank account in West Bengal in October 2024. This amount was later traced to Palraj’s account and has since been recovered, bringing the total recovered amount to Rs 10 lakh.

Five individuals have been arrested so far, and authorities continue to investigate the case to recover the remaining funds and uncover further links to the cyber fraud network.