A transnational cybercrime syndicate with links to Hong Kong, China and United Kingdom was busted by Cyberabad police’s Cybercrime Unit. The image is used for representative purposes only.
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A transnational cybercrime syndicate operating through Telegram and WhatsApp was busted by the Cybercrime unit of the Cyberabad police, in which fraudsters impersonated Morgan Stanley.

The case was registered in August 2024 following a complaint by a 47-year-old software engineer who was lured into the scam through UK-based WhatsApp numbers promising 20% daily return on investment. Trusting the lucrative offer, he invested in the fraudulent crypto scheme over a period of one month.

Man loses ₹52.31 lakh

Eventually, he realised he had been deceived, losing a sum of 55,066 USDT, a stable virtual digital asset valued at approximately ₹52.31 lakh.

Mule account trader arrested from Y.S.R. Kadapa district

The police arrested Pathi Manikanta, a 22-year-old from Y.S.R Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh. He was identified as a crypto and mule account trader with direct connections to cryptocurrency agents and Chinese nationals. Meanwhile, his accomplices from Haryana remain at large, with efforts underway to secure their arrest.

The investigation revealed that the criminal syndicate deployed sophisticated layering techniques to launder the illicit proceeds across multiple cryptocurrency platforms, including Binance, KuCoin and Trust Wallet. Manikanta was allegedly found to be in constant communication with other Chinese criminal groups via Telegram, facilitating the purchase and supply of mule bank accounts on a commission basis.

During the investigation, the police also recovered UDHYAM Registration certificates from his phone, which are suspected to have been used for opening mule accounts in various banks.

Links to China, Hong Kong and UK

Due to the transnational nature of the crime and the complexity of blockchain-based financial transactions, a dedicated team comprising tech-savvy police personnel and cryptocurrency experts was formed to trace the digital money trail. Technical evidence and interrogations have uncovered links to China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, exposing the vast international reach of the criminal network.

Binance seized the stolen assets following a court order. To ensure the swift recovery of the funds for the victim, the police will seek further assistance from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), the cryptocurrency investigation assistance team of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-Ind).

Be wary of unrealistic returns

In the light of this case, the Cyberabad police issued an advisory urging citizens to exercise caution before investing in cryptocurrency. Officials warned against schemes that offer unrealistic returns and emphasised the risks associated with investing in decentralised digital assets.

Citizens were advised to thoroughly verify the credentials of any investment scheme offline before committing their money, particularly those promoted through Telegram and WhatsApp.