Twenty-two people have been arrested from across the country for their involvement in a ₹ 500 crore instant loan-cum-extortion racket that was operated by Chinese nationals. The racket involved more than 100 applications that were used to obtain access to the sensitive information related to the user which was then uploaded to servers based in China and Hong Kong, a senior police officer said.
The arrests were made by the Delhi Police after an analysis of the gang operation that lasted over two months. The network was spread across Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and other states, police officials said.
The gang based out of a call centre in Lucknow
According to the police, the gang based out of a call centre in Lucknow used the applications to provide small amounts of loan. Once the user downloaded the applications and granted permissions to the app, they would get the loan money credited to their account within minutes, the police said.
The gang would then call the users from different numbers that were procured on fake IDs, and extort money threatening that their morphed nude pictures would be uploaded on the internet if they failed to heed to the demand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said.
Due to social fear and stigma, the users used to pay the money, which was later sent to China through hawala or after purchasing cryptocurrencies, the police official said.
The gang reportedly used multiple accounts and each of the accounts received more than ₹ 1 crore per day.
The apps have been identified as Cash Port, Rupee Way, Loan Cube, Wow Rupee, Smart Wallet, Giant Wallet, Hi Rupee, Swift Rupee, Walletwin, Fishclub, Yeahcash, Im Loan, Growtree, Magic Balance, Yocash, Fortune Tree, Supercoin, Red Magic.
At least 51 mobile phones, 25 hard disks, nine laptops, 19 debit cards/credit cards and three Cars and ₹ 4 lakh cash were recovered by the police.
The arrested members have reportedly told the police that the racket was operated at the behest of Chinese nationals. The police have identified few Chinese nationals and efforts are being made to trace and arrest them.
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