8 arrested for online fraud in collusion with Chinese gang; 14 mobiles, 47 bank cards seized in Surat

Surat Range Cyber Crime Police have arrested eight individuals involved in online fraud in collaboration with a Chinese gang. The police seized 14 mobile phones and 47 credit and debit cards from the accused.

The gang defrauded a young man from Olpad taluka in Surat district of ₹14.84 lakh by luring him into completing fake online tasks through social media, convincing him to transfer money into various bank accounts.

The online fraud gang has 29 cases registered against it across 12 states in India.

According to DySP A M Parmar of Surat Range IG Office, a young man working in a private company in Pipodra village, Olpad, received a message on Telegram from an unknown number claiming to represent a fake DLF company, offering him various online tasks with payment. After registering through a bogus link shared by the Telegram user, the youth was promised daily earnings between ₹1,500 and ₹3,000 for completing these tasks. 

Initially, the fraudsters deposited small profits into his account to gain his trust, later pressuring him to deposit more money into various customer support bank accounts while assuring higher returns. Eventually, the youth was defrauded of a total of ₹14,84,934, with the scammers refusing to return his investment.

Following a complaint at the Surat Range Cyber Crime police station, Police Inspector P A Suthar and his team began investigating, leading to the arrest of Ashok Arjanbhai Parmar (Ahmedabad) and Dilipchand Sumerlal Raw (Indore), who provided rented bank accounts. 

Further, agents involved in opening these bank accounts and collecting SIM cards, Altaf Husen Ansar Ahmad Shaikh (Ahmedabad) and Qureshi Mohammad Faizal Mohammad Hasan (Ahmedabad), were arrested along with Atif Istiyakbhai Ajmeri (Ahmedabad) and Salman Habibkhan Pathan (Ahmedabad), who were involved in crypto sales. 

Two others, Safwan Abdulrauf Shaikh (Ahmedabad) and Altamas Makbul Shaikh (Ahmedabad), who provided additional credit cards collected from various sources, were also apprehended.

The police have seized a total of 14 mobile phones, 47 credit cards from various banks, six debit cards, and a diary containing transaction records related to the credit cards from the accused.