New Delhi, Aug 7: Criminal syndicates, including the network run by Dawood Ibrahim, have long been involved in circulating fake Indian currency notes.

Backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), these networks have treated counterfeit currency as one of their most profitable operations for years.

Indian security agencies have now detected a significant shift in the way counterfeit currency is being pushed into the country. Investigators say the circulation of fake Rs 500 notes has declined sharply, pointing to a change in the strategy adopted by the counterfeit currency network.

Earlier, the network primarily focused on counterfeiting Rs 200 and Rs 500 notes. Agencies have now found that the emphasis has shifted to lower denominations, with fake Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50 notes being circulated in large numbers.

The circulation of counterfeit currency not only finances these criminal syndicates but also poses a threat to India’s economic stability. Officials say this is one of the key reasons why Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has continued to facilitate the trade, much of which is allegedly orchestrated through the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate.

An Intelligence Bureau official said there are credible intelligence inputs indicating that Pakistan’s ISI is planning to flood the market with counterfeit currency in lower denominations. According to the official, the strategy is to circulate fake Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50 notes in much larger volumes than before.

“There are multiple reasons behind this newfound strategy. These elements are aware that people are extremely cautious about notes above Rs 100 denomination and will conduct a detailed check before accepting them. However, that is not the case when it comes to smaller denomination notes,” the official said.

People are generally less cautious when handling Rs 10, Rs 20 or Rs 50 notes and rarely stop to check whether they are genuine or counterfeit. That is precisely what these networks are seeking to exploit, the official said.

Officials said the syndicates believe lower denomination counterfeit notes are less likely to attract attention, making them easier to circulate in large numbers without raising suspicion.

Another official said that the period up to April 2027 will be crucial.

The biggest push would be made by these gangs to circulate fake notes of smaller denominations during these months. India plans to roll out polymer or plastic bank notes by 2028. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that polymer bank notes in the denominations of Rs 10 and 20 will be rolled out in 2028.

While the primary objective of introducing polymer notes is to increase their lifespan to nearly four times that of existing paper currency, they are also expected to offer significantly stronger security features. Officials say the enhanced anti-counterfeiting measures will make the notes far more difficult to replicate.

The plastic substrate allows for advanced security integrations which are impossible on paper. These new notes would have transparent windows, specialised metallic links and micro-optic holograms which would make them extremely difficult to forge.

Before this roll out, it is suspected that the ISI-backed gangs may look to ramp up circulation of counterfeit notes of the smaller denominations in the country.

Officials say that these gangs would focus increasingly on notes of smaller denominations. Once the rollout is complete in 2028, these syndicates would look to target the Rs 50 and 100 notes more compared with the notes of the Rs 500 denomination, the agencies warned.

The RBI has repeatedly issued instructions on how to spot a counterfeit note. The apex bank says that the small denominations may not have a high value, but are used more frequently in daily transactions. This makes them a common target for fraud, and hence citizens must be more careful while dealing with such currency, officials point out.

Mumbai Police launched an investigation into a suspected cyber fraud case in which a nationalised bank’s senior official allegedly lost Rs 4.27 lakh through unauthorised credit card transactions.

Investigators suspect that the fraud may have started after the victim’s personal secretary connected his mobile phone to the free public Wi-Fi network at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.

According to police, cybercriminals may have gained access to the personal secretary’s mobile phone and later used the compromised device to spread a malicious Android application package (APK) file disguised as a Regional Transport Office (RTO) traffic challan. The fake application was reportedly sent to several people in the phone’s contact list, including senior bank officials.

The MRA Marg police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) and are investigating whether the mobile device was infected through the public Wi-Fi network, a fake hotspot imitating the genuine network, or through another method used by cybercriminals.

Police said the complainant, 56-year-old Gobinda Biswas, a resident of Bhakti Park in Wadala and general manager at a nationalised bank office in Fort, received a message on July 18 from his personal secretary Narayan Swami. The message appeared to be an official RTO challan and contained an APK file.

Before sending the message, Swami had connected his mobile phone to the free Wi-Fi service available at CSMT, police said. After the device was allegedly compromised, the malicious file was automatically forwarded through messaging applications to more than 200 contacts saved on the phone.

Believing the message to be a genuine traffic challan, Biswas downloaded and installed the application. Police suspect that the malware then gained access to sensitive information stored on his device, including data that could have been misused for financial fraud.

Investigators believe the infected application continued spreading the malicious file to additional contacts. On July 21, Biswas noticed unusual activity on his phone and deleted the application. However, police suspect that the malware had already accessed important information before removal.

Police said Biswas did not receive any SMS alerts regarding the suspicious credit card transactions. The fraud came to light on August 3 when he received his credit card statement. The complaint stated that five unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 4,27,264 were carried out within just 28 minutes on July 21.

The bank’s credit card department later attempted to contact the customer several times. After the transactions were found suspicious and communication could not be established, the credit card was blocked, police said.

Biswas subsequently filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and approached MRA Marg police. An FIR was registered on August 4 in connection with the suspected cybercrime.

A Mumbai Police official said that the investigation is underway to identify the source of the malware and determine the exact method used by the accused to gain access to the mobile device.

Citizens should remain cautious while connecting to public Wi-Fi networks and should avoid installing applications received from unknown sources, Mumbai Police cautioned.

Cyber experts have repeatedly warned that attackers can use fake applications, phishing messages and unsafe public networks to steal personal and financial information. Police have advised citizens to verify links and applications before downloading them and to avoid sharing sensitive banking details through suspicious platforms.

The Cyber Police Station of Delhi’s South-West District has busted an inter-state cyber fraud syndicate involved in impersonation-based online scams and arrested four accused, including a Nigerian national. The gang cheated a complainant of Rs 1.46 lakh by falsely claiming that a parcel containing US dollars and gold had been sent to India in his name.

Police said the operation involved coordinated investigations across Delhi, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. A total of seven mobile phones allegedly used in the commission of the offence have been recovered.

According to police, a complaint was received on March 31, at PS Cyber, South-West District, alleging that the complainant had been cheated by unidentified persons through an online impersonation scam. The fraudsters reportedly contacted the victim through WhatsApp messages and phone calls while posing as residents of the United States.

Investigators said the accused gradually gained the complainant’s trust by establishing a personal relationship and then falsely informed him that a parcel containing US dollars and gold had been dispatched to India in his name.

The victim was subsequently asked to pay money on various pretexts, including obtaining a Money Declaration Certificate, booking flight tickets, customs clearance charges and securing the release of the purportedly seized parcel.

Believing the claims to be genuine, the complainant transferred Rs 1.46 lakh through multiple UPI IDs and bank accounts. Following the complaint, an e-FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an investigation was launched.

Given the seriousness of the case, a special team comprising SI Vishal Yadav, HC Pramod Kumar, HC Vikram, HC Amit Kumar and W/HC Reena Kumari was constituted under the supervision of Inspector Pravesh Kaushik, SHO, PS Cyber, and ACP Operations Sanghamitra.

During the investigation, the team conducted extensive technical analysis, examined digital evidence, tracked financial transactions and carried out surveillance. The investigation trail led police from Delhi to Telangana and eventually to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Based on technical inputs, the first accused, Deepak Kumar (22), was arrested from Maidan Garhi in South Delhi. One mobile phone allegedly used in the fraud was recovered from his possession.

Further investigation led the team to Jayashankar Bhupalpally district in Telangana, where Konda Sagar (33) was arrested. Subsequently, Azmeera Vinod Kumar (30) was apprehended from Dubbapeta in Telangana, and two mobile phones were recovered from him.

Continuing the probe, investigators uncovered the involvement of Simeon Miracle Chinonso (22), a Nigerian national residing in Visakhapatnam. Acting on technical Intelligence, the police conducted a raid in Andhra Pradesh and arrested the accused. Four mobile phones allegedly used in the cyber fraud operation were recovered from her possession.

Police said the investigation revealed that the accused were part of an organised cyber fraud network. Deepak Kumar, Konda Sagar and Azmeera Vinod Kumar allegedly arranged and supplied mule bank accounts to cybercriminals in exchange for commissions.

Meanwhile, Chinonso allegedly impersonated immigration officials, customs officers and representatives of various organisations through WhatsApp chats and phone calls. Victims were induced to transfer money on the false promise of receiving foreign parcels and clearing customs and documentation formalities.

Investigators found that the defrauded money was routed through multiple bank accounts to conceal its origin and facilitate further transfers.

Police have recovered seven mobile phones from the accused. Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional victims who may have been targeted through similar frauds.