NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has busted a racket involving a gang of online frauds following a complaint by a US national who was duped of $400,000. Five persons including a Kanpur-based man, along with four city residents, have been booked for tech fraud to the tune of $400,000 which is equivalent to Rs 3.31 crore Indian Rupees.
According to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources, the accused have been identified as Rishabh Dixit, a resident of O Block in Kidwai Nagar, Kanpur, and four others Praful Gupta, Sarita Gupta, Kunal Almadi and Gaurav Pahwa, all residents of Delhi.
As per the First Information Report (FIR) the accused allegedly hacked into the laptop of a US-based woman Lisa Roth in May 2022 and illegally transferred an amount of $400,000. It was alleged that when Roth was working on her laptop, it was hacked.
When she contacted the number displayed on her laptop screen, the hacker impersonating as an employee of a multinational software company began misleading her and said that there were some wire transfers from her retirement account and asked her to contact Fidelity Investments.
It was further alleged that when she called on the given number, the hacker took control of her laptop remotely and convinced her to transfer an amount of $400,000 from her Fidelity Account to her First State Bank Account.
It was also alleged that the hacker fraudulently opened an Okcoin (crypto-currency) account on behalf of the victim and made her transfer the said amount of $400,000 to the said Okcoin account in June, 2022. After converting the fiat amount in crypto currency, the hacker further allegedly transferred the said amount to the cryptocurrency accounts of accused persons.
Searches were conducted at the residential & official premises of the accused at New Delhi, Kanpur and recovered incriminating material in the form of laptops, mobile phones, hard disks etc. The investigation is still on, a CBI spokesperson said.
Hacker transferred money in crypto account The accused allegedly hacked into the laptop of a US-based woman Lisa Roth in May 2022 and illegally transferred an amount of $400,000. It is alleged that he transferred the fiat amount into cryptocurrency accounts of the accused in June 2022.
