Jaipur, Jan 20 (IANS) In a major breakthrough against cybercrime, the Jodhpur Commissionerate Police in Rajasthan has busted a massive international cyber fraud racket involving transactions worth over Rs 1,100 crore.

The syndicate operated across India, Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia, with its primary base located in Cambodia. The operation was conducted under the direction of Police Commissioner Omprakash.

Investigations revealed that fraudsters used Indian SIM cards activated illegally to contact victims via WhatsApp, luring them with fake investment and online trading schemes.

An official said that technical analysis showed that the fraud calls and messages originated from locations such as Preah Sihanouk (Sihanoukville), Cambodia, despite using Indian mobile numbers.

“These SIM cards were illegally transported abroad and used for cyber fraud targeting Indian citizens. Through extensive reverse data analysis, police examined records of nearly 2.30 lakh mobile SIM cards,” he said.

He pointed out that with assistance from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), it was found that around 36,000 Indian SIM cards were roaming in Cambodia.

“Of these, 5,300 SIM cards alone were used to commit fraud worth Rs 1,100 crore across multiple Indian states. The modus operandi was highly deceptive. Accused Prakash Bhil and his associates targeted customers at mobile SIM Point-of-Sale (POS) outlets,” he said.

The official noted that under the pretext of the fingerprint or photo mismatch during verification, two SIM cards were activated instead of one.

“Customers received one SIM, while the second was retained by the gang. These extra SIM cards were later sold at inflated prices and smuggled to Cambodia through Malaysian nationals, where they were used for cyber fraud operations,” he said.

He further added that so far, police have arrested five key accused, including SIM distributors and agents identified as Hemant Panwar – SIM distributor (Nagaur), Ramavatar Rathi – SIM sales agent, Harish Malakar – Ajmer, Mohammad Sharif – Jodhpur and Sandeep Bhatt – Ludhiana, Punjab. Accused Prakash Bhil had been arrested earlier.

The official said that a Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued against four Malaysian nationals involved in transporting SIM cards to Cambodia, which include Lee Jian Hui, Lo Dee Khen, Chin Yu Ming and Leong Ken Neth.

“The cyber fraud affected multiple states, while the funds siphoned include Maharashtra: Rs 248.21 crore, Tamil Nadu: Rs 225.50 crore, Delhi: Rs 73.67 crore, Telangana: Rs 73.43 crore, Karnataka: Rs 71.79 crore and Rajasthan: Rs 25.71 crore,” he said.

The official added that police are now moving to block nearly 5,000 suspicious SIM cards and their linked WhatsApp accounts operating from Cambodia.

He said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted at the Commissionerate level to conduct an in-depth probe and identify additional accused, beneficiaries, and financial trails.

–IANS

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