New Delhi, April 10 (NationPress) The Cyber Police Station in the South-West district of Delhi has dismantled a significant network engaged in fraudulent loan applications under the operation named Cyhawk 4.0, leading to the arrest of two additional suspects and revealing connections to virtual numbers linked to Pakistan and Bangladesh, officials disclosed on Friday.

As per police reports, the recent arrests have increased the total number of individuals apprehended in this case to six. The newly detained suspects, identified as Karan Kumar (24) and Shami Ahmad (27), are residents of Kapashera. Law enforcement recovered two mobile phones that contained incriminating WhatsApp conversations from their possession.

This case revolves around an online financial scam where naive victims were enticed through fraudulent loan applications that promised unsecured loans. Once the loans were disbursed, the accused reportedly extorted money by threatening to release altered images of the victims.

The investigation initiated after a mule bank account in Kapashera, registered under the name of a 23-year-old local resident, was flagged during the scrutiny of suspicious transactions. An official stated, “The related complaints were identified as part of the fake loan app fraud, which led to the filing of a case and the commencement of an investigation.”

Following leads from previous arrests, detectives traced further accounts connected to the scam. A Bank of India account belonging to Karan Kumar was discovered to have been implicated in numerous complaints, prompting deeper inquiries and subsequent arrests.

During questioning, Karan Kumar reportedly confessed to having provided his bank account on a commission basis to co-accused Shami Ahmad, who then transferred it to another individual for use in cyber fraud operations.

Authorities revealed that the suspects were in contact with other members of the syndicate using virtual numbers traced back to Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Numerous incriminating WhatsApp messages were retrieved pertaining to the operation of fake loan applications, the management of mule accounts, and the receipt of defrauded funds,” the police confirmed.

Investigators are currently probing whether these virtual numbers were managed by handlers based overseas or by criminals in India attempting to conceal their identity.

Explaining the method used, officials stated that once a victim downloaded the fraudulent loan app, the scammers accessed the victim's phone data. Loans were issued with hidden stipulations, and victims were subsequently threatened with manipulated images. The stolen money was funneled through mule accounts via UPI transactions and later converted into cryptocurrencies like USDT to obscure the financial trail.

Both suspects are reported to work as Rapido drivers and were allegedly lured into this scheme through local connections promising easy money in return for access to their bank accounts.

Further investigations are ongoing to identify additional members of the network and trace the flow of illicit funds, police indicated.