New Delhi, Delhi Police has busted an organised cyber fraud network that allegedly used fake traffic challan messages and reward applications to dupe people of over ₹ 10 crore, an official said on Sunday.
Police have arrested five people from different locations across India, allegedly linked to 544 complaints involving over ₹ 10 crore, the officer said. Around ₹ 2 crore was transferred to over 41,000 application users within three days.
“Teams found that the application automatically sent 9-12 phishing SMSs whenever a user redeemed a reward, keeping the mobile screen locked for around 30 seconds,” said the police officer. The police traced the cheated amount to an account maintained with an international bank, the officer said, adding that the investigation uncovered a network of mule bank accounts and payout transactions. The police arrested Moti Singh Baghela, Harshpal, Vicky, Vishal Das Vaishnav and Barjesh Kumar from different locations, including Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab, he said.
The investigation began after a man lost ₹ 2.21 lakh from his credit card after clicking a fraudulent link in an SMS claiming to facilitate payment of a traffic challan in November 2025. Around 3,300 such SMSs were traced during the investigation. The messages contained links impersonating traffic challan payments, delivery verification and reward points.
