Money mules held in internet banking fraud cases

The cyber crime cell of the Chennai Criminal Investigation Department has arrested two Mumbai-based 'money mules' involved in online bank frauds worth Rs26.55 lakh and Rs75,510 respectively from the accounts of two Tamil Nadu-based persons using internet banking services.

The arrested persons, S Vinayak Shivaji Khandare (20) and I Ibrahim Ansari (25), have been brought to Chennai and remanded in judicial custody at the Puzhal prison.

Acting on the directive of ADGP, CB-CID, Archana Ramasundaram, three 'money mules' - persons who provide their account number and ATM / debit card for transferring money from the victim's account for a commission - were earlier arrested from Chennai and Bangalore. One of the main accused, B S Sainath Reddy, was apprehended in Hyderabad on 4 March, the CB-CID said.

On 5 November 2009, Tiruchi-based businessman S Salahudeen noticed an illegal transaction from his account through net banking and alerted the police and bank officials, the police said. The transaction was found to have been done by couriers. Cyber cell officials found involvement of eight couriers in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Sangli in Maharashtra.

The couriers would withdraw the amount and deposit it in accounts given by hackers after deducting their 8-10 per cent commission. The CB-CID arrested C Sridhar of Chennai, R Suresh Ramdas and S Arun Kumar of Bangalore in January and February this year. In March, they arrested one of the prime accused, B S Sainath Reddy at Hyderabad. On 17 May, a police team went to Mumbai and nabbed Khandare. He confessed that he received Rs 50,000 from the account of the complainant.

In the second case, Madurai-based engineer V Saravanan in August 2009 lodged a complaint with the CB-CID saying that Rs 75,510 was illegaly transferred via net banking from his account, following his response to a phishing e-mail purportedly sent by his bank. He gave his user ids, login password and transaction password. The money was transferred to accounts in New Delhi and Mumbai. On 19 May, police arrested I Ibrahim Ansari of Mumbai after finding that he had received Rs25,000 from Saravanan's account on August 22, 2009.

A police officer said, "Hackers steal the id and passwords of victims either by phishing email or by planting malicious software. They recruit accomplices or couriers through social networking sites. They then get details of the couriers and transfer victims' money. They withdraw from these accounts a share after paying commission to the couriers."