Delhi Police's South-West District Cyber Police Station has busted an organised cyber fraud network allegedly involved in sending phishing SMS messages impersonating traffic challans, delivery verification and reward-related communications, officials said on Saturday. The investigation began with a complaint involving an alleged fraud of Rs 2.21 lakh and led police to a wider network linked to 544 complaints registered across the country, involving cheated amounts exceeding Rs 10 crore.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

According to police, the case was registered after the complainant received an SMS containing a fraudulent link purportedly meant for payment of a traffic violation challan; after he clicked it, an unauthorised transaction of Rs 2.21 lakh was made using his credit card. Technical analysis revealed that bulk SMS activity linked to the case began around November 3, 2025, with approximately 3,300 suspicious messages sent to recipients across different parts of the country. Police traced one of the mobile numbers used to send the messages to a school student's handset, on which they found an application called 'Wingo Cash', received through a WhatsApp group.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

How the alleged relay worked

Police alleged that whenever users redeemed rewards through the application, their mobile screens remained locked for around 30 seconds, during which the app generated and sent between nine and 12 SMS messages containing fraudulent links related to fake traffic challans, delivery-address verification and reward points. Users received between Rs 1 and Rs 3 for each redemption, while their phones were allegedly used as SMS relay devices for the larger phishing operation. The financial trail initially led to an account maintained with the National Bank of Kuwait, but investigators later traced reward-payout transactions to an account in the name of Shree Balaji Enterprises, Mumbai, and alleged that approximately Rs 2 crore was distributed in small-value transactions to more than 41,000 users of the suspect application within just three days.

Source: Nation Press

Rs 10 crore+Cheated amount linked to the alleged network
544NCRP complaints linked to the network
5Accused arrested across five states
41,000+App users allegedly paid small amounts in three days

Based on technical and financial evidence, police conducted raids in Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab, leading to the arrest of five accused — Moti Singh Baghela, Harshpal, Vicky, Vishal Das Vaishnav and Barjesh Kumar. Police said they recovered a car, a gold chain, 15 mobile phones and tablets, 59 debit cards, 52 passbooks and cheque books, 14 stamps of firms and companies, five point-of-sale machines and eight QR-code scanners. The investigation also allegedly revealed a network involved in arranging company documents, current bank accounts and other banking infrastructure for commission. Police said the 544 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Further investigation is underway.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA