New Delhi: Delhi Police, in the fifth edition of Operation CyHawk, has arrested 916 people and taken legal action against 4,290 people.The 48-hour nationwide operation ran from 8 am on June 16 and to 8 am on June 18. All 15 district police units, along with the intelligence fusion and strategic operations (IFSO) unit and crime branch, were involved in a coordinated offensive against cyber fraud networks. The operation was monitored by police commissioner Satish Golchha.A total of 715 teams, comprising 2,374 personnel, were deployed across 21 states and Union territories. In all, 7,189 people were detained in simultaneous raids. Of these, 916 were arrested, and 691 were bound down.Police registered 481 FIRs and also solved 410 pending cybercrime cases. These were linked to complaints recorded on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). The 410 cases cumulatively led to frauds amounting to nearly Rs 700 crore.Four bank officials were arrested for allegedly facilitating cybercrime. Two Nigerian nationals suspected of involvement were deported.Mule accounts, police said, remain the backbone of cyber fraud. Fraudsters, whether gangs in Jamtara and Mewat or organised crime compounds in Southeast Asia, recruit people through social media platforms, luring them with work-from-home offers, task-based incentives and commission-based schemes.The recruits open bank accounts and hand over control of their SIM cards and debit cards to fraudsters. During the operation, over 3,600 people linked to mule account networks were rounded up. They were linked to 2,300 complaints on NCRP.Investigators said conventional OTP-based fraud is increasingly being replaced by malware-as-a-service (MaaS), where cybercriminals deploy malicious android applications that intercept OTPs and forward them to fraudsters.These apps are disguised as utility services, such as bill payment or vehicle registration apps, and are installed after victims are duped by fraudsters posing as bank or service officials.Police said the malware infrastructure is often leased out on a subscription basis. Telegram and other platforms are used for its circulation. Operation CyHawk specifically targeted those distributing and installing such APK files.Police also busted multiple fraudulent call centres operating in Delhi under the guise of legitimate businesses. These centres duped victims through fake job offers, modelling assignments, insurance schemes and astrological consultations.Separately, the IFSO unit cracked down on international tech-support scam centres that impersonated global technology companies to defraud foreign nationals. Call centre owners, floor managers, supervisors and operators were among those arrested.Police seized over 760 mobile phones, 820 SIM cards, 228 ATM cards, 247 bank kits and passbooks, 323 Aadhaar cards, 104 laptops and computers, and Rs 21.72 lakh cash. An SUV and 11 point-of-sale (PoS) machines were also seized.Investigators also recovered cheque books, signed cheques, RTGS slips, cash withdrawal slips and a PAN card, indicating increasingly sophisticated methods of layering and laundering cybercrime proceeds.
