In a significant crackdown on cyber fraud, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police has dismantled an illegal call centre operating from a residential flat in the capital. The racket was allegedly involved in a sophisticated scheme to defraud citizens of the United States by impersonating customer support executives.
Late-Night Raid Uncovers Elaborate Scam
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a team from the Crime Branch conducted a raid late at night, around 11:45 pm, at a first-floor flat located in Gujarawala Town, North Delhi. The flat, comprising three rooms and a drawing area, was the nerve centre of the fraudulent operation. During the raid, seven individuals were apprehended.
Officials stated that one person was present in the drawing room when the police arrived. Two other rooms were found locked from the inside. Despite repeated requests, the individual in the drawing room failed to cooperate or explain the activities behind the locked doors. Police later recovered a key from the drawing area, which they used to open one of the rooms.
Modus Operandi: Tech Support Ruse to Crypto Theft
Inside the locked room, six people were found actively operating laptops and mobile phones. Upon interrogation, they revealed their method. The accused used toll-free numbers to receive calls from US nationals. Leveraging Voice over IP (VoIP) technology and software like MICRO SIP, they posed as technical or customer service executives from legitimate companies.
Their script was designed to create panic. They would engage callers in lengthy conversations, falsely warning them about critical software bugs and security threats that allegedly put their bank accounts in immediate danger. To "resolve" the issue, they persuaded victims to grant remote access to their computers or phones using the ScreenConnect application.
The scam then entered its final, lucrative phase. Once remote access was granted, the call was transferred to another associate who pretended to be a banker. This person would convince the already anxious victims that the safest way to protect their money was to move it into cryptocurrency. The victims were guided to purchase bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies and transfer them to digital wallets controlled by the scammers.
Ownership and Seizures
Police investigations indicate that the call centre was owned and managed by three individuals and had been operational since September. The cryptocurrency collected in the wallets was ultimately controlled by this trio, who would later withdraw or exchange the illicit funds. During the raid, law enforcement seized seven laptops and several mobile phones that were used to contact and defraud foreign nationals.
This bust highlights the evolving nature of cybercrime, where traditional social engineering is combined with modern tools like remote-access software and cryptocurrency to defraud victims across international borders. The Delhi Police's action underscores the ongoing efforts to tackle such transnational digital fraud networks operating from within India.
