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Maximum cyber criminals in India, says Punjab and Haryana high court
The bench of justice Anop Chitkara while dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of one Mohd Jubair lamented that most victims are simple, honest, and truthful people who believe these thugs to be like them. “They do not know any technology except some basic features of smartphones, and this little knowledge makes them vulnerable to cyber-thugs,” the bench observed.
India has the maximum number of cyber criminals and are giving a “terrible” name to the country, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said.
The bench of justice Anoop Chitkara while dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of one Mohd Jubair lamented that most victims are simple, honest, and truthful people who believe these thugs to be like them. “They do not know any technology except some basic features of smartphones, and this little knowledge makes them vulnerable to cyber-thugs,” the bench observed.
The allegations against the accused were of an online thuggee, through a group pretending to be working for an insurance company, and duping a CRPF personnel for ₹14.46 lakh. The FIR was registered in Kurukshetra on March 3, 2022, for cheating among other sections. The petitioner had sought anticipatory bail fearing arrests as his name came up in the probe.
Explaining the modus operandi of these “call centre thugs”, the court explained that they operate in a pack, get in touch with a vulnerable suspect through malicious links sent through phishing or by making calls on their numbers. They get access to these numbers from the dark web, where another set of criminals sell people’s personal information, like their mobile numbers, e-mails, and even Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, PAN, passport details, date of birth, etc.
“They interact as per a specifically designed transcript. After taking such victims into confidence, they pass on the call to their accomplices by referring to them as their managers. Whenever these thugs find that the victim is slipping away, they bring another gang member by referring to them as a senior manager, who would again entrap the person. They also prefer female gang members to speak to the male victims,” the bench noted.
The accused’s name had cropped up as money was transferred into his account from the ones dealt with by accused persons to transfer siphoned off money. The call centre was being run from Noida. He could not explain the reasons for such a money transfer.
“…prima facie, there is sufficient evidence to connect the petitioner with the proceeds of crime and his operating as a conduit and an active member of the gangs of online thugs,” the bench observed dismissing the plea and also asking the police to file for bail cancellation, if secured by an accomplice against whom strong evidence is found in the probe.
