The ED 'Con-undrum': How The Agency Is Battling Scammers Using Spoofing, Impersonation
Fraudsters and scammers armed with fake notices, spoofed calls, and audacity are running a side hustle and minting crores while the Enforcement Directorate chases actual criminals
Con artists – this is what the Enforcement Directorate, which is responsible for probing financial crimes, is battling at the present moment. Fraudsters and scammers armed with fake notices, spoofed calls, and a lot of audacity are running a side hustle and minting crores while the law enforcement agency chases actual criminals.
The instances sound nothing short of a Bollywood script, but the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claims to have succeeded in pinning down this menace and establishing a standing operating procedure (SOP).
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For context, take the case of Sukesh Chandrasekhar – the kingpin of cons, who used spoofing technology to pretend he was a senior government official. He allegedly duped some businessmen offering “help" in exchange for hefty payouts, extorting over Rs 200 crore while comfortably playing puppet master. Fake calls and notices – he had it all covered. However, that was not a stray case. On January 3, ED searched the premises of a similar fraudster in Hyderabad — Sandeep Desai. The incident and a few other similar cases promoted the ED to issue a statement and an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
SUKESH SYNDROME SPREADING
Sukesh, however, is not alone. Across India, there are others jumping onto the bandwagon using the ED’s authority, its press statements, and notices as their golden ticket to dupe unsuspecting victims. While some have been arrested and have faced raids and seizures, the drama is far from over.
For the ED, it is not just about catching financial fraudsters scamming businessmen, but also staying a step ahead of those who have turned its clout into their cash cow. Little did they know that the fight against corruption could have such a dramatic plot twist.
Sample the latest case: on December 19, the ED conducted a high-profile raid on a businessman’s premises in Hyderabad and released a press statement detailing its search operation. What the officers did not see coming was how their statement will inspire a con artist.
A crafty impersonator used the press release as a tool to extort money from the businessman, who faced the raid under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) sections, by posing as an ED officer. The plot was unravelled only after the agency stepped in to investigate, and eventually arrested him.
WHAT HAPPENED IN HYDERABAD?
The Hyderabad zonal office of the ED raided the premises of an alleged conman, identified as Sandeep Desai, on January 3 under related PMLA provisions. “Searches conducted at the residential premises of the said conman led to the recovery and seizure of multiple SIM cards and mobile phones used by the conman to entice and extort money from persons facing ED investigation," said a spokesperson.
On December 19, the zonal office had conducted searches at M/s CSK Realtors Ltd and M/s Singh Mansions Pvt Ltd. According to the agency, based on the press release of these raids, Desai contacted Suresh Kumar Agarwal, managing director of M/s CSK Realtors, and attempted to extort money from him in the name of ED officers.
“The conman, Sandeep Desai, used three different mobile numbers to contact Suresh Kumar Agarwal through WhatsApp and falsely projected himself as senior ED officers. He convinced Suresh Kumar Agarwal to meet him at a 5-star hotel in Hyderabad and, during the meeting, introduced himself as ‘Rakesh’ and a cousin/friend of an ED officer. The conman demanded a hefty sum from Suresh Kumar Agarwal and offered to help him in the ongoing PMLA investigation against M/s CSK Realtors through his contact with ED officers," the spokesperson said.
The ED officers, however, later received information about how the businessman was duped and initiated a probe, while the victim lodged a complaint. “Based on the complaint, swift action was initiated by the ED officers and the said conman was identified through CCTV footage and surveillance and his whereabouts were ascertained. Subsequently, search operations were conducted at his residential premises from where various SIM cards and mobile phones used by him were seized. In his statement recorded during the course of investigation, the said conman, Sandeep Desai, admitted that he tried to extort money from Sh Suresh Agarwal in the name of ED officers by falsely projecting his association with the ED," the spokesperson added.
FRAUDSTERS CASHING IN ON ED’S NAME
Following the recent case in Hyderabad and in addition to some previous incidents, the ED has now explained the modus operandi to the public and issued a statement about such behaviour.
Explaining how a scammer uses spoofing technology, the ED in its statement said: “Call spoofing is defined as an act of disguising a phone call from an unknown source as being from a known source. In other words, it is a process of changing the caller ID to any number other than the actual calling number."
“Spoofing enables the caller to reflect any number desired by him/her on the screen of the called number. Whereas, in reality, no calls are being made from the number so reflected. The receiver of the spoofed calls tends to believe that it is a genuine call from that number and starts getting conned or falling into the trap of conman. The conman then, through using various decoys convinces the victim for payments. The victim gets into the trap of conman and gets exploited financially," it added.
The agency further said con artists normally spoof the phone numbers of government functionaries. The call will look normal and even the ‘True Caller’ app verification reflects that the phone number pertains to these authorities.
“The process starts with identification of the victim by the conman. Neither everyone is aware of government structures and hierarchy, nor of the functions and duties of the government servants. Unscrupulous persons take advantage of lack of information and con people. The conman on identification of such persons takes advantage of their vulnerability/lack of knowledge of governmental functioning by making fake promises by impersonating as government officials. These promises look attractive and doable. This leads to the beginning of putting faith on the conman and later on extortion under the guise of offering help," the statement added.
The ED has now issued an SOP for such instances stating that “all official correspondences from the Directorate of Enforcement are done through letters, summons, notices, etc issued under the relevant provisions of the laws which are generally despatched through post or emails. In case of doubt with respect to any letter, summon, notice, etc received from ED, it is advisable to get it cross verified". It said to report any such suspicious movement or calls by any person to concerned ED officers.
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