Fraud Briefing

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed under PMLA in connection with a pan-India cyber-fraud and 'digital arrest' racket involving reported losses of Rs 417.49 crore across 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs; linked entities carried out transactions worth Rs 27,850 crore across 20 States and UTs.

Fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officers and place victims under fake 'digital arrest,' coercing them into transferring funds into accounts falsely labelled 'Secret Supervision Accounts.' The network then rapidly layers proceeds within hours through dormant and newly opened bank accounts, fragments them across 400+ beneficiary accounts, converts them to cash via Bulk Note Acceptance Machines (BNAMs), and ultimately converts them to foreign currency through RBI-licensed FFMCs. Masterminds incorporate shell companies in the names of frontmen (employees, drivers, slum residents) while retaining actual control themselves. In 101 cases, the network routed a single victim's funds through two or more entities within the same fraud network.

West Bengal's Cyber Crime Wing (S4C) launched Operation Cyber Prahar, a statewide crackdown on cybercrime hotspots and fraud infrastructure. In the first seven days, the operation made 107 arrests, registered 69 FIRs, raided three fake call centres, and identified fraudulent transactions totalling Rs 92.664 crore. It targets the broader fraud ecosystem - mule and beneficiary bank accounts, ATM/cash withdrawal points, POS terminals, SIM-issuance points, and bank branches linked to suspected transactions - rather than individual perpetrators alone.