Cyber fruad has become one of the most potent tools for scammers to dupe people. There have been multiple instances of people getting conned and losing money to frauds who feign as a genuine service providers.
A very common way of luring people is to push gaming and betting apps that deal with money. People, to gain easy money, often fall prey to such lucrative prospects, even as the scamsters play up all the advertisement goodies to sell what seems like a great offer.
In the latest such crime, Gujarat police unearthed a case of digital deception where a Chinese national actually visited India, teamed up with collaborators and created a football betting app that trapped at least 1,200 victims from north Gujarat, and duped them of estimated Rs 1,400 crore in less than 10 days.
The accused has been identifued as Woo Uyanbe from China’s Shenzhen region, who allegedly ran the scam in Patan and Banaskantha.
CID (crime) officers said they learnt in June 2022 that some conmen were targeting people in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh through the Dani Data app. The Agra police initiated an inquiry, and the CID (crime) team discovered links to several people in north Gujarat.
“During our investigation, we learnt that the Chinese national was in India between 2020 and 2022. He spent time in Patan and Banaskantha, where he met numerous locals and lured them with promises of wealth. He and his accomplices in Gujarat then launched the Dani Data app in May 2022. It invited bets and promised substantial returns.”
On average, Uyanbe managed to filch Rs 200 crore per day, preying on people aged 15 to 75, mainly through football games, the officer said, adding, “The app was operational for nine days before suddenly becoming non-functional. It was then that people realized their invested money had been siphoned off.”
The investigation by the CID (crime) cyber cell subsequently led to the arrest of nine men who allegedly established shell companies and helped Woo move the money into them using hawala networks.
“It is believed that these swindlers collectively embezzled a staggering Rs 5,000 crore from thousands of unsuspecting victims,” said an officer of CID (crime).
However, by the time the Gujarat police swung into action in August 2022 after filing an FIR for cheating and various violations under the Information Technology Act in a police station in Patan district, the accused had slipped out of India.
Despite efforts, the officers of the CID (crime) cyber cell could not amass sufficient evidence against Uyanbe, and the state is yet to proceed with the extradition process of Woo Uyanbe.
Sources said the mastermind continues operating his network in Shenzhen, and neighbouring regions like Hong Kong and Singapore. He allegedly deploys multiple apps to defraud people through digital means.
In March, the CID (crime) cyber cell officers filed a chargesheet in the case related to the app.
The investigation is still on.
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