Prime suspect in tech scam using AI remanded

Kozhikode Kaushal Shah, prime suspect in deep fake tech scam, remanded in custody till January 31, facing interrogation.

Kaushal Shah, the prime suspect in a recent deep fake tech scam, was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate here and remanded in Judicial custody till January 31.

The Ahmedabad native, who was in Tihar jail in connection with another similar tech crime, was brought by the Delhi police on Wednesday as a production warrant under Section 267 of the Code of Criminal Procedure had already been issued by the court upon the request of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for interrogation.

After the court proceedings, the 42-year old was taken back to Delhi in the evening. The SIT was also granted permission to interrogate him in Tihar jail next week. Police sources said the squad would interrogate him on January 24, 25 and 27. The follow up court proceedings would be carried out on video conferencing, they added.

Police sources said the Ahmadabad native was accused for a series of tech crimes operated using a nation-wide network of scammers. The special squad zeroed in on Mr. Shah following the arrest of his three close aides Gujarat native Shaik Murthu Samiyahayath, and two other Maharashtra natives- Sidhesh Anand Karve and Amrish Ashok Patil, who were detained from Goa.

The police had managed to recover more than 30 SIM cards and many mobile phones from the arrested. They had created numerous fake social media accounts to commit cyber frauds. Police sources said the interrogation of Kaushal Shah was crucial as he headed the criminal network.

In July 2023, the police were notified about an AI-based fraud that resulted in the theft of ₹40,000 from the bank account of a resident in Kozhikode. The complainant was a retired employee from the Coal India Limited. According to him, the caller pretended to be one of his close friends in Andhra Pradesh in a fake video call. The fraudsters also employed AI tools to operate the trickery and get the amount transferred into their account through Google Pay.

The cyber squad cracked the case after a four-month long investigation with the support of the high-tech crime inquiry cell. It was claimed to be the first such AI-employed banking fraud operated in Kerala. The probe was taken up by the Kozhikode cyber police station following an instruction from the State Police Chief.