₹90-crore cyber fraud busted: Engineering college found running nationwide scam

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Puducherry Cyber Crime Police have busted a major cyber fraud network allegedly operating from within an engineering college. Investigating officials have described it as a "hub" of cyber crime. The investigation revealed that in this ₹90 crore scam, students sold the bank accounts of their friends and classmates to cyber criminals. Officials say the criminals would launder the money in India, then send it to Dubai, where they would convert it into cryptocurrency through a network based in China.

The case came to light when two engineering students—Dinesh and Jaipratap—approached the police after their bank accounts were frozen. Both said they had shared their account information with their friend, Harish. Police investigations revealed that these accounts were being used as "donkey accounts" to deposit scam funds. The investigation so far has confirmed that at least ₹7 crore (approximately $1.7 billion) had been withdrawn from these accounts.

Police have arrested seven people, including four engineering graduates—Thomas alias Hayagriva, Harish, Ganeshan, Govindaraj, Yashvin, Rahul, and Ayyappan—in connection with the case. During the raid, police seized ₹5 lakh in cash, 171 checkbooks, 75 ATM cards, 20 mobile phones, laptops, computers, several bank passbooks, credit cards, and a Hyundai Verna car.