Naga woman held in China-linked cyber fraud

Gurugram Police, in a joint operation with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, arrested a Naga woman for allegedly providing call support to cyber fraudsters originating from China, police said on Monday.
Authorities recovered seven mobile phones — three smartphones, one keypad phone, three damaged phones — one WiFi modem, three SIM cards, and one broken laptop from her possession, they added.
A senior police officer stated that the arrested woman, alongside her husband, was actively involved in assisting China-based cyber criminals by installing a virtual SIM box at a rented location in Gurugram.
They allegedly targeted Indian citizens for various cyber crimes, including gaming fraud, investment fraud, and digital arrest scams.
According to the police, on February 10, the east cyber police station received confidential information about a man and his wife who had set up the virtual SIM box in a rented apartment in Sector 28, Gurugram, to operate an illegal telephone exchange for cyber fraud activities. Following this tip-off, the Gurugram Police launched an operation in close cooperation with the I4C.
The cyber police team, led by ACP Priyanshu Dewan, conducted a raid at the identified location in Sector 28.
On the fourth floor of the building, they discovered three mobile phones in active use, making automatic calls to various Indian numbers. The phones automatically dialed another number after disconnecting a call, displaying the VDMS Apk App on their screens, the police said.
“A woman present at the spot was apprehended by the police team, who was identified as Kung Panmae (30), a native of Dimapur, Nagaland and presently residing at Sector-28, Gurugram.
During police interrogation, the accused woman revealed that she, along with her husband, had installed the virtual SIM box setup at the rented accommodation on behalf of China-based cyber fraudsters and provided network access through WiFi. Her role was to keep the mobile phones continuously charged and connected to the network.
“Through this virtual SIM box, cyber fraudsters based in China would place calls to Indian citizens to carry out digital arrest scams, gaming frauds, investment frauds, and other cyber-crimes. In return for this work, her husband received commission,” ACP Dewan said.
A senior officer from the cyber police mentioned that this setup enabled international VOIP calls to be converted into local voice calls, allowing cyber criminals abroad to communicate with Indian citizens and perpetrate fraud.
The SIM box was found to be a highly sophisticated setup. Such illegal VOIP call routing systems are often used by foreign-based cyber fraudsters and can also pose serious threats to national internal security, as they are capable of facilitating covert communications.
“We are questioning the accused woman, and further investigation in the case is ongoing,” the officer added.