ED’s ₹2.6cr digital arrest probe uncovers ₹417cr cyber fraud network; 2 held

The agency has arrested two members of the network, which it says converted cybercrime proceeds into cash and foreign currency through RBI-licensed money changers

MUMBAI: A money laundering probe into a ₹2.60-crore “digital arrest” scam has led the Enforcement Directorate to a network allegedly linked to 493 cyber fraud cases/complaints across India involving reported losses of ₹417.49 crore. The agency has arrested two members of the network, which it says converted cybercrime proceeds into cash and foreign currency through RBI-licensed money changers.

ED’s ₹2.6cr digital arrest probe uncovers ₹417cr cyber fraud network; 2 held

The arrested accused, Fahim Sayed and Naim Sayyed, were produced before a Mumbai court for transit remand and taken to Goa, ED officials said. The two arrested accused were allegedly linked to the multiple shell firms and accounts, which were used to divert the defrauded funds, officials said while referring to the trail’s probe.

The investigation began with an FIR registered by the Goa (North) police cybercrime police station on June 9, 2025. The case relates to a Goa resident who was allegedly subjected to a “digital arrest” scam and forced to transfer ₹2.60 crore between May 21 and June 2, 2025.

The money was transferred to accounts described to her as “secret supervision accounts”, according to the agency officials.

The agency said its investigation found that the money was quickly moved through a network of bank accounts before allegedly being converted into cash and foreign currency through companies licensed by the RBI as Full-Fledged Money Changers (FFMC), allegedly to evade scrutiny.

Agency sources said the money was, within hours of its receipt, first routed through dormant or newly opened accounts and then spread across more than 400 accounts linked to entities involved in commodities, trading, travel and foreign exchange.

The accounts linked to the network are allegedly connected to 330 cyber fraud complaints and 163 FIRs registered across 20 states and Union Territories. The reported losses in these cases total ₹417.49 crore, officials said.

In 101 of those complaints, the agency found that money belonging to a single victim was allegedly routed through two or more entities in the network during the same fraud.

The agency further found that the entities allegedly used to route the money were registered in the names of people with modest means, including drivers, lower-level employees and residents of single-room homes. These people were shown as directors, while the companies’ accounts and operations were allegedly controlled by others, officials said.

The network allegedly carried out transactions worth more than ₹27,850 crore and deposited around ₹2,904 crore in cash. Of this, ₹584.70 crore was deposited through 61,448 transactions at Bulk Note Acceptance Machines, officials said.

Earlier, the agency searched 20 premises in Mumbai and Goa on July 17 and conducted further searches on August 21. It seized ₹3.25 crore in cash, along with digital devices, records and statutory registers.

In a digital arrest scam, fraudsters pose as police, CBI, ED or other law enforcement officials and tell victims, primarily citizens, they are involved in a criminal case. They use video calls, fake documents and threats to keep victims under pressure and demand money in the name of a “settlement” or “security deposit”.