The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has initiated an operation to identify hotspots of cyber criminals and act against them with the assistance of local state police.
So far, areas in Haryana and Jharkhand have been targeted, and large-scale operations have been conducted to apprehend cyber criminals. According to sources, in one of the largest operations against cybercrime, the Haryana police have arrested 42 cyber criminals in two days in Nuh, Mewat, in connection with several nationwide cyber-fraud cases.
The operation, initiated with the help of I4C, resulted in the seizure of 50 cell phones, fake Aadhaar cards, over 90 SIM cards, cash, and ATM cards. Officials have stated that this marks the largest crackdown on cyber criminals since April last year when 66 criminals were arrested in an operation involving around 5,000 policemen.
A software named Pratibimb helped local police map cyber criminals in real time, aiding in their apprehension.
I4C had launched Pratibimb last year, which offers the unique advantage of projecting mobile numbers used in cybercrimes across the entire country onto a Geographic Information System (GIS) map. This portal also provides a map view for law enforcement agencies and service providers to ascertain the actual locations of mobile numbers active in criminal activities.
In another operation, I4C located fraudsters involved in the manipulation of fantasy cricket betting games. These cyber criminals manipulated real-life matches to benefit their fantasy teams, a difficult scheme for individual users to detect. Additionally, fraudsters created fake contests with high rewards to lure users into joining and paying entry fees, resulting in financial losses for users.
During the investigation, it was found that the SIM numbers involved in the crime are located in different parts of the country, with a significant number in Jharkhand. These SIM cards are often associated with phishing emails or messages impersonating Dream 11, tricking users into revealing login credentials or clicking on malicious links that steal financial information.
According to a senior official, in the coming days, with the assistance of the centre, the state police will initiate action against cybercriminal hotspots. In a meeting, these hotspots have been identified, and approximately 12 areas have been narrowed down for targeted operations.
Sources also revealed that during the continuous monitoring of these criminals, it was observed that they change their locations after raids by local police, posing a challenge as their continuous movement is not easy to track and is a time-consuming practice.
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