Indian woman arrested for aiding cyber fraud syndicate in Cambodia

A 24-year-old woman from Gujarat was arrested at Delhi Airport for her role in a Cambodia-based cyber fraud network. She allegedly helped dupe Indian victims through fake "digital arrest" threats. Police have arrested 16 people in the case so far.

Gurugram:Gurugram police arrested a woman cyber-fraudster from the Delhi airport for allegedly duping people by claiming “digital arrest” from Cambodia as part of a racket, police said on Monday.

The arrested woman was identified as 24-year-old Khushbu, a native of Surat in Gujarat who has studied up to Class 12. The woman used to work on a salary in a call centre operated by a cyber fraud network operated by people of Chinese origin from Cambodia, they said.

---

She came to India from Cambodia on Sunday and the team of Gurugram police arrested her from Delhi Airport, they added.

Two mobile phones used in cybercrime have been recovered from her possession.

“Khushbu was arrested in connection with cyber fraud in which a Gurugram resident was duped of lakhs of rupees by showing the fear of digital arrest.

“The accused woman revealed during interrogation that in this case, Rs 39 lakh of the defrauded amount was transferred to the bank account of an accused, Surender, who had ‘sold’ the account to Mitesh in Rs 5 lakh. Mitesh had ‘sold’ the same account to Khushbu,” said the police.

“During interrogation, the accused woman revealed that she had gone to Dubai for a job in November 2023 through the husband of one of her friends.

“After that, she went to Cambodia in August 2024. She was involved in cyber fraud carried out in a call centre named Mango Park located in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

“The call centre where the woman worked is run by people of Chinese origin and young men and women from various countries, including India, carry out cyber fraud in that call centre. For this work, the accused Khushbu used to get 700 US dollars as salary”, said Priyanshu Dewan, ACP cyber.

The accused woman also revealed that the cyber-fraud is done in three stages from the call centre. In the first stage, people are told that they have been found involved in cyber fraud like using Aadhar card for wrong purposes.

“Then in the second stage, they are digitally arrested by posing as fake police officers. In the third stage, by posing as a customs or income tax officer, they are made to transfer money to the bank account.

“Accused Khushbu works in the team of the first stage of cyber fraud for digital arrest,” he said.

“We are questioning the accused and also exploring the data of her mobiles. In the above case of fraud, a total of 16 accused had been arrested including Khushbu”, added ACP Dewan.