New Delhi: Armed with inputs shared by the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) busted a major transnational cybercrime racket operating out of a bogus call centre at Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Raids were conducted at several locations in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata and incriminating documents seized. Six persons have been taken into custody by the CBI.
The gang had been targetting US nationals since 2022, it has now been known. Between then and 2025, the accused posed as US government officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), FBI and Social Security Administration (SSA), and targeted victims in the US.
“Unsuspecting victims would be told that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries and all their assets would get frozen. The scamsters then made their victims pay. They managed to accumulate USD 8.5 million in the last three years,” an official said in a statement.
The funds were allegedly transferred to wallets and foreign bank accounts controlled by the crooks.
“The CBI registered the case on December 9 this year. Extensive searches were conducted at multiple locations in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, linked to the accused persons, yielding substantial incriminating evidence. The six persons were caught red-handed and taken into custody,” the statement added.
Searches conducted by the CBI on Wednesday and Thursday revealed that this transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network was channelling the proceeds of crime through virtual assets and bank transfers.
“Searches conducted at premises of the illegal call centre and the accused persons led to recovery of cash amount of Rs 1.88 Crores, 34 electronic devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, hard disks and incriminating documents pertaining to crime. Further operations are underway to identify the proceeds of crime. Investigation into the broader network and international leads are ongoing,” the agency said.
The six have been identified as Shubham Singh alias Domnic, Daltan Lian alias Michael, George T. Zamlianlal alias Miles, L Seiminlen Haokip alias Ronny, Mangkholun alias Maxy and Robert Thangkhankhual alias David alias Munroin.
“As part of OPERATION CHAKRA, CBI is rapidly identifying and taking action on the organized technology enabled crime network in close coordination with INTERPOL and foreign law enforcement agencies. The operation has resulted in significant disruption and dismantling of major transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network,” it was added.
