In this ever-evolving world, the countries remain in conflict with weapons of the contemporary age. With the advent of digitisation, data has become the biggest weapon. Although, not publicly visible in daily life, countries are competing to control data. In fact, countries like China are using this data for cybercrimes that affect rival nations.
Three Chinese nationals arrested
Recently on November 19, three Chinese nationals were arrested in India who were involved in a major cyber syndicate. In one of two cases, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that Xiao Ya Mao and Wu Yuanlun were running an illegal loan app to cheat gullible people during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were arrested from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirapalli.
The Chinese nationals were running an app using which they provided short-term loans with exorbitant interest rates.
Shockingly, they also used to take photos, videos, and bank account details, among others which they used to harass the borrower in case of lapses in payment. In some cases, borrowers’ images were morphed into obscene images or they were coerced to take more loans to settle earlier ones, trapping them into debt cycles.
These Chinese nationals formed two companies named M/s Toucolor Technologies Private Limited and M/s Truekindle Technology Private Limited, in 2020. These companies were operated using dummy Indian directors to sign official documents.
These Chinese criminals created a cryptocurrency wallet on WazirX in the dummy directors’ name and converted the cryptos into Indian currency to provide loans. The returns were again converted into cryptocurrency and siphoned off to Hong Kong, laundering the proceeds of the crime.
In another case of a Chinese national’s arrest, Delhi’s Shahadara Cyber Police nabbed Fang Chenjin in a cyber fraud case of Rs 43.5 lakh. He used to trick people into investing in fraudulent schemes through WhatsApp groups. Seemingly a small case, it took a major turn when police investigated the matter further and found out that the accused was using multiple accounts and was linked to various cybercrime and money laundering cases in UP and Andhra Pradesh. After tracking down to the main account where the money was transferred, police were shocked to see 17 earlier complaints linked to that account. The Delhi Police was successful in arresting the kingpin of a cyber syndicate of Rs 100 crore.
One may doubt that Chinese govt involvement is not evident, but it mustn’t be mistaken, these types of crimes are covert and are sponsored by the state.
Earlier in April, authorities in the African nation Zambia busted a sophisticated cybercrime syndicate and arrested 77 people including 22 Chinese nationals.
These Chinese nationals employed Zambian youth aged 20-25 on the pretext of working in a call centre.
Drug Enforcement Commission DG Nason Banda said that the raid was conducted after months of intelligence following an alarming rise in online scams using WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social media platforms. The authorities seized some 13,000 SIM cards in 11 boxes along with devices allowing callers to disguise their location.
The authorities said that the operation from there was so major that it crossed borders as people from Peru, UAE, Singapore, and other African countries were targeted. The setup of such a mass-scale scamming base was possible only because Zambia is part of China’s One Belt, One Road and has witnessed massive Chinese investments.
Nevertheless, in May 2024, the US announced that it dismantled a global network of 19 million infected computers that were used to facilitate and cover cybercrimes of all types including, fraud, identity theft, and Child exploitation.
The US authorities have also arrested a Chinese national Yunhe Wang who ran a botnet known as “911 S5”, comprising infected IP addresses in more than 190 countries over eight years from 2014, generating millions of dollars offering cybercriminals access to the network for a fee.
This was the largest ever malware network and a Chinese national was behind it. The idea of not just scamming people on a mass scale but infecting systems in 190 countries and facilitating other cybercriminals to use it, itself says that the act required massive logistical and technological support that Chinese authorities could easily provide.
The syndicate was busted in a joint multinational operation of the US, Singapore, Thailand, and German authorities. US Department of Justice said it seized assets worth nearly $30 million and identified additional forfeitable property worth approximately $30 million.
It is worth mentioning here that Chinese state-sponsored cybercriminal groups widely known as Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) have time and again been accused of trying to breach into the critical govt infrastructure of the United States to infect it to exploit the infrastructure during unforeseen adverse circumstances.
The point is, if the advanced cyber capabilities can be used for espionage and prepositioning of footholds within the critical infrastructure of its adversaries, it is even simpler for China to misuse its capabilities to target the financial architecture of a country.
For any country, its economy is the backbone and the financial security of its people is the path forward for economic prosperity. Hence, the security of this delicate architecture is of paramount importance. The latest three arrests of Chinese nationals, their links to international syndicates, and their operations exceeding financial scams to harassment and debt trap is an alarm that Indian probe agencies need to address.