Nigerian national held for running hacking syndicate in Delhi: Police

The accused and his associates would allegedly hack into the victim’s WhatsApp or Facebook account and demand money from people on their contact list. They sometimes posed as women as well.

The Delhi Police Cyber Cell arrested a foreign national for allegedly running a WhatsApp hacking syndicate, from West Delhi’s Mohan Garden on Sunday. Police said the accused has been identified as Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu from Nigeria. Police are now tracing his associates who operated from Bengaluru.

The accused and his associates would allegedly hack into the victim’s WhatsApp or Facebook account and demand money from people on their contact list. They sometimes posed as women as well.

Police received a complaint from a businessman who alleged his phone was hacked by unknown persons who “took control” of his WhatsApp and were demanding money from his friends by sending distress messages.

DCP (Cyber Cell) KPS Malhotra said, “The accused had sent bank account details to the businessman’s friends. We traced the details and, with the help of technical investigation, zeroed in on Chimelum. He was arrested from Delhi with 15 mobile phones and a laptop.”

While analysing data from his laptop, police found that the accused had created an application with malware links which he would send to his targets. When these apps were opened, all contacts and call log data would be sent to the accused. “He was picking people on Facebook and other mediums and targeting them. We have found multiple bank accounts and money trails linked to him,” said an officer.

During questioning, Chimelum confessed and said he and his associates were using different ways to cheat people online. They allegedly posed as women and would target men on social media using fake profiles. Once the victim started talking to the accused, they would send him “malware links” disguised as links to social media groups, leading the victims to lose their private social media data.

The fake profiles were also used to demand money from the victims on the pretext of sending gifts and paying custom fee, said police.

Chimelum also created a fake social media platform to sell fake herbal seeds. Police said his devices show he created a “false demand” for the product and later induced people to buy it.

The accused’s visa expired in 2018. Police said he created fake documents to pose as a United Nations asylum seeker. He has been booked under Foreigners Act.
Police said his house owner who helped him with the documents is also being questioned in the case.

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