Authorities in Thane have broken up a cyber fraud syndicate involving men from Mumbra, who were coerced into carrying out online scams from Cambodia with connections to international networks, highlighting a growing trend in borderless cybercriminal activities.
Police in Thane have broken up a cyber fraud syndicate that allegedly recruited seven men from Mumbra with promises of overseas work and then forced them to carry out online scams from Cambodia, according to PTI and local police. Officers said the men were taken to a scam centre in Kampot and used fake Facebook accounts to target Indian victims in gambling and fraud operations between October 2025 and February 2026.
The Mumbra police registered a case on Thursday against the alleged organiser, Mohammad Arafat Shaikh, and seven others under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita covering criminal breach of trust, cheating and related offences, an official said. Investigators allege the Cambodian operation was run with help from foreign and Indian handlers, including a man identified as Kevin Hech, Motilal Mandal from Bihar and another suspect known as “Anna” from Bengaluru.
The case adds to a string of recent Indian investigations into Cambodia-linked cybercrime networks. In April, Delhi Police said they had dismantled a large fraud syndicate tied to Cambodia, arresting the alleged mastermind Karan Kajaria and seizing evidence in a case said to involve losses of more than Rs 300 crore. Separate reports from Mumbai and Delhi in recent months have described schemes using fake investment platforms, mule bank accounts, encrypted messaging apps and cryptocurrency to move money and disguise the trail.
Other cases have also pointed to the growing use of coerced or low-level labour in these operations. In July, police in Mumbai’s wider region arrested a man from Vadodara for allegedly helping a Cambodia-based network by activating and supplying more than 1,000 SIM cards. Around the same time, Telangana Cyber Security Bureau officers said they had detained five people linked to a similar Cambodia-based racket that used illegally obtained SIM cards and forged documents to target Indian citizens. Police in Thane said they are now tracing the financial flows connected to the scam hub and trying to identify additional suspects.
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