The Navi Mumbai police have uncovered a share trading fraud network allegedly linked to cybercriminals in China and Cambodia and arrested seven persons who duped investors of crores of rupees, officials said, reported news agency PTI.

As a result of this breakthrough, the cyber police have frozen 118 bank accounts across various states in India, securing a total amount of Rs 32.5 lakh linked to the fraudulent transactions, they said.

The cyber crime branch unearthed the fraud while probing the case of a victim who was cheated of Rs 1.07 crore, the officials said, reported PTI.

The fraudsters targeted several victims between September 2 and October 8, luring them into sending money to multiple bank accounts after promising high profits in share market trading through investment advertisements on various social media platforms.

They used a fake application to show a large, but virtual, profit on the invested amount, luring the victims to invest larger sums based on the false profit display. The fraudsters later refused to return the victims` original investment, according to the police, reported PTI.

The police operation, which involved days of intensive investigation across various hotels, resulted in the dismantling of a network connected to cyber fraudsters in China and Cambodia, the Navi Mumbai police said in a release on Tuesday.

The cyber police team initially arrested Suresh Talekar (29) and his accomplice Vikas Awhad (30) from Pune, reported PTI.

“Further investigation of a third accused (not arrested), indicated that he had met three unknown Hindi-speaking individuals, suspected to be from another state, at a hotel in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, to hand over SIM cards linked to certain bank accounts,” the release said.

The police inspected 35 to 40 lodges and hotels across Mahape, Sanpada, Koparkhairane, APMC, Vashi areas in Navi Mumbai, reported PTI.

They nabbed five persons from a hotel in Vashi and arrested them in connection with the crime, the release said without identifying them.

The interrogation of the accused indicated a direct international link, as three of them were in touch with cyber fraudsters in China and Cambodia via the Telegram app, the police said, reported PTI.

The main role of the accused was to use an application to forward the one-time passwords (OTPs) generated by current bank account transactions to their handlers abroad, they said.

The police appealed to people to be careful of advertisements for investment in the stock market on social media and not succumb to the temptation of making high profits.

(With inputs from PTI)

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