Daijiworld Media Network – Mysuru
Mysuru, Nov 29: A cybercrime case registered in Dakshina Kannada (DK) has revealed a disturbing pattern of youngsters from Mysuru being drawn into financial fraud networks, with at least 10 youths arrested over the past two months.
Police teams from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra, along with units from other Karnataka districts, have picked up these suspects for their alleged roles in cyber-enabled financial offences.
Police sources said fraud syndicates lure vulnerable youngsters with offers of easy money or by promising ‘account-handling jobs’. What starts as a request to use their bank accounts or mobile numbers for transactions, assuring them a commission, quickly escalates into large-scale financial fraud, illegal money routing and mule account operations.
Those arrested include undergraduate students, school dropouts and youths engaged in odd jobs.
According to police, they were responsible for providing and operating bank accounts used to receive and circulate fraudulent funds, which were later withdrawn in cash from ATMs. These mule accounts, officers said, help obscure money trails by enabling rapid transfers across states.
Link to phishing and scam networks
In one of the recent developments, Dakshina Kannada cybercrime police arrested three Mysuru youths for enabling fraudulent money transfers linked to a phishing racket, setting off a chain of arrests and revealing the deeper involvement of Mysuru-based youngsters in interstate cyber fraud.
Police said fraudsters particularly targeted financially distressed youth. Apart from using their own accounts, the arrested individuals also allegedly provided bank accounts of friends and acquaintances, further widening the network.
In a separate case, two Mysuru students were detained for providing bank accounts used in an investment scam registered at Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune.
Chennai North cyber crime police, in another incident, took three youths from Mysuru into custody for facilitating UPI transactions connected to an online trading fraud syndicate.
Just two days ago, West Bengal police arrested two Mysuru-based youngsters for their role in money-routing operations linked to a loan app scam network in Rajarhat.
Senior cyber cell officers said many of these youths were unaware of the legal implications of their actions. “By allowing their accounts to be used, they become legally liable as money mules who move or launder illegal funds, and for being direct collaborators in criminal conspiracy they are arrested,” an officer said.