Chinese cybercriminals stole $529 million from Indians using lending apps, fake job offers and fictitious cryptocurrency trading schemes. This was stated by the cybercrime department in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
According to Indian media reports, the scammers were sending SMS messages en masse, which police said were originating from China, with some operators based in Nepal and working under the direction of Chinese perpetrators. Fake websites and crypto apps have been created to attract investors.Let me remind you that we also wrote that Chinese Hack Group Aoqin Dragon Has Been Quietly Attacking Companies Since 2013, and also that Chinese Hack Group Twisted Panda Spies on Russian Defense Developments.
Triveni, head of Uttar Pradesh’s cybercrime police, said the same hackers from China were behind the scam. SMS aggregators are also involved in this.
The perpetrators escaped with the stolen funds by first transferring the victims’ money to local Indian bank accounts and digital wallets, and then transferring the cash to Indian cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay platform and international platform Binance. The stolen money was eventually withdrawn in China.
Another extortion scheme was also uncovered, it was carried out by scammers from the Indian city of Gurugram. Four Indian citizens reportedly extorted money in exchange for false promises of small loans.
The suspects also set up call centers for further crimes and targeted people with low financial literacy. Now the criminals are in custody. According to India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the scammers kept in touch with their foreign counterparts using the Chinese messenger Husys.
Investigators allege that the suspects were shareholders and directors of shell companies set up in India on behalf of their Chinese counterparts, who actually made the decisions and managed the affairs.
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