- NEW DELHI — In a significant breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) on Wednesday busted a transnational cybercrime racket and seized
cryptocurrencies worth INR 2.8 crore. The premiere investigation agency also
arrested an accused, identified as Rahul Arora, after conducting searches at
three locations.
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- The crackdown on cyber syndicate and the subsequent
recovery of cryptocurrencies from the accused’s possession came as part of
CBI’s ‘Chakra-V’- the sustained operation against incidents of cybercrime.
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- Under the Chakra V, the agency has been tackling dynamic
and evolving threats posed by cyber criminals and bringing the cybercriminals
to justice while safeguarding citizens across borders from digital
exploitation.
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- The accused Rahul Arora will be produced before the
Special CBI court today.
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- Meanwhile, the agency sleuths are conducting further
searches to track down his other associates of the cyber syndicate and also to
unearth transnational links for laundering money gathered in the form of
digital assets.
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- The case came to light after the agency got inputs of the
cyber syndicate operating from the country and targeting unsuspecting
individuals in the USA and Canada by impersonating as government officials and
representatives of reputed tech support companies.
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- Based on gathered intelligence, the agency conducted
searches and uncovered incriminating evidence by busting the syndicate’s
operation in transnational cyber fraud.
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- The seized materials include tools for making
international calls with masked caller identity, a lead-generation mechanism
based on social engineering tactics, voice recordings, and other components of
cybercrime ecosystem.
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- Following the searches, the CBI seized proceeds of crime
in the form of Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) worth INR2.8 crores. Apart from
this, unaccounted cash amounting to INR22 lakhs was obtained from possession of
the suspect.
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- The discovery and seizure of VDAs from the cyber
syndicate, operating beyond borders, marks yet another success for the agency
as it carries out ambitious drive to combat incidents of cybercrime by using
cutting-edge technology.