Delhi Police have dismantled a nationwide cyber fraud network involved in over Rs 15.71 crore in suspicious transactions, arresting nine suspects across four states and uncovering international links with Qatar and Dubai.
Delhi Police said its cyber unit in the south-west district has broken up a pan-India investment fraud and mule account network, arresting nine people from four states in a case that investigators say involved more than Rs 15.71 crore in suspicious transactions.
The case began with a complaint from a New Delhi resident in Palam Colony who was drawn into WhatsApp groups marketed as investment learning forums. Police said the victim was persuaded by people posing as market experts and investment professionals, then steered towards a fake trading app that appeared to show profits. After an initial transfer of Rs 4.82 lakh, the complainant was allegedly asked for more money on the false claim that an IPO allotment was pending. The victim then approached the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, leading to the registration of a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Investigators said they traced the money through beneficiary accounts and digital records, uncovering what they believe was an interstate web of account holders, facilitators and mule accounts. The probe linked 34 complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to the same network, along with seven other Delhi cases amounting to about Rs 2.70 crore. Police also said 27 additional complaints had surfaced during the wider inquiry.
According to Delhi Police, the operation had suspected foreign links, with possible connections to Qatar and coordination through associates in Dubai. The force said it is still checking the roles of other facilitators, including individuals identified as Riya and Sam, and is examining whether a bank employee was involved. In a similar pattern seen in recent Delhi and other state crackdowns, investigators said the group relied on fake firms, current accounts and layered transfers to hide the movement of funds.
Police said the arrests followed a trail that led first to Maharashtra and then to Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab. Shoeb Dilavar Saiyyad was arrested in Nandurbar after interrogation and phone analysis produced chats and other digital evidence. Four others were later arrested in Gujarat, while Muzamil Thaib and Jamaluddin Faisal were taken into custody in Kerala. Sarabjit Singh and Sonia Sharma were arrested in Punjab. Officers recovered eight mobile phones, banking documents, KYC papers, account-opening forms and transaction records.
The syndicate is said to have targeted victims through WhatsApp investment groups that were presented as exclusive institutional programmes. Once trust was established, victims were encouraged to move money into fake trading platforms showing fabricated gains. When they tried to withdraw funds, they were allegedly asked to pay more for taxes, brokerage, processing charges, account verification and IPO allotments. Delhi Police said the same methods have featured in other major cyber fraud cases this year, reflecting how quickly such networks have become more organised and geographically dispersed.
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