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Chikkamagaluru: A major cyber fraud racket that allegedly exploited the poverty and innocence of daily wage earners by using their bank accounts to route crores of rupees has come to light in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district.

Investigators have found that huge sums of money were transferred through the accounts of auto drivers, homemakers and civic workers after they were lured with promises of easy loans and monthly financial assistance.

According to police, the racket primarily targeted poor families in Shankarpura locality. The accused allegedly convinced victims to open bank accounts by promising that they would receive Rs 1,000 every month and become eligible for easy bank loans.

After collecting Aadhaar and PAN details, the suspects reportedly linked their own mobile numbers to the victims’ bank accounts instead of the account holders’ numbers.

Police said the victims, many of whom did not own mobile phones or lacked digital banking knowledge, remained unaware of transactions taking place in their accounts. Since the accused controlled the registered mobile numbers, all OTPs, transaction alerts and banking messages were received by them, allowing them to operate the accounts without the knowledge of the account holders.

When some victims later sought to close the accounts after loans failed to materialise, the accused allegedly falsely claimed that the accounts had already been closed. However, investigators discovered that the accounts remained active and were recently used for high-value transactions.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh was routed through individual accounts within just one month. The fraud came to light after Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police units from six states issued notices regarding suspicious financial transactions linked to these accounts.

Although only five victims have formally lodged complaints so far, police suspect that more than 48 bank accounts belonging to innocent residents of Shankarpura alone may have been misused. Investigators believe the total value of suspicious transactions could run into several crores of rupees.

A case has been registered against seven persons in connection with the racket. Six accused were earlier arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Subsequently, considering the seriousness of the case, a Chikkamagaluru court granted three-day police custody of key accused Aslam, Rahul and Prashanth to facilitate further investigation.

Police have found that an auto driver, a homemaker and a civic worker had transactions of ₹29 lakh, ₹34 lakh and several other high-value transfers in their accounts despite having no knowledge of the money trail.

Investigators are now probing whether the accused were operating as part of a larger cyber fraud network with interstate or even international links. Suspicions have also emerged about possible hawala transactions or a Dubai-based connection behind the movement of funds.

Amid the widening investigation, a BJP delegation has demanded that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging that the arrested persons could merely be front-end operators while the masterminds remain at large.

Meanwhile, the poor labourers whose identities and bank accounts were allegedly misused now find themselves facing repeated police inquiries despite claiming they never handled the money. CEN police are continuing their investigation to trace the source and destination of the funds and uncover the full extent of the cyber fraud network.