Police bust Cambodia-based cyber fraud syndicate in Thane

Police have busted a cyber fraud syndicate operating from Cambodia that allegedly lured seven men from Thane with overseas job offers. The men were allegedly made to target Indians through online scams and gaming frauds between October 2025 and February 2026

Thane: The police have busted a cyber fraud syndicate operating out of Cambodia that lured seven men from Maharashtra’s Thane district with the promise of jobs overseas and made them target Indians in online scams, officials said on Friday.

The Mumbra police on Thursday registered a case under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the main accused, Mohammad Arafat Shaikh, and seven others, an official said.

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According to the FIR, Shaikh allegedly promised lucrative foreign jobs to seven men, all residents of Mumbra, and took them to a cyber scam hub in Kampot, Cambodia, managed by foreign and Indian handlers.

In Cambodia, the men allegedly worked at the cyber scam centre managed by one Kevin Hech, Motilal Mandal, a native of Bihar, and a man called “Anna” from Bengaluru, he said.

The accused carried out online scams and gaming frauds targeting Indians through fake Facebook accounts, siphoning off substantial sums of money between October 2025 and February 2026, the official said.

The official said that the police are now working to dismantle the network, trace the financial transactions linked to the scam centre’s owners, and locate additional suspects involved in the syndicate.