Pramesh S Jain
In a case of reverse digital arrest,the HSR Layout police on Tuesday busted a“reverse digital arrest”racket and raided a BPO company and caught 16 trained staff threatening the US and Canada citizens threatening them with drug and money laundering cases and robbing money from them on the pretext of help, operating from a call centre in HSR layout for over one year.
Based on a credible information,a team of officials raided the call centre and arrested the staff who were trained in online cyber fraud and engaged in a criminal conspiracy to collect information from unsuspecting individuals online.
City police commissioner,Seemant Kumar singh briefing the media said that the accused posing as US enforcement agency officials target US and Canada citizens threaten them with fake cases,alleging their involvement in drug trafficking or money laundering cases.
The accused under the pretext of “helping”them,would demand money online to“settle”the matter thereby illegally obtaining large sums of money through cyber crime.
Based on this information,the HSR Layout Police Inspector registered a suo-motu case.The Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-east Division),Saraha Fathima directed the HSR Layout Police Station and CEN Police Station,South-east Division to investigate.
During the investigation,police visited the location of the alleged cyber crime and conducted a raid the accused who are high school and college drop outs from different parts of North India revealed that they had found job offers on WorkIndia,LinkedIn,and similar websites,which advertised openings in BPOs providing online services to the USA,Canada,and other countries.
The company managers had lured job seekers from various states by promising free accommodation and work opportunities in Bengaluru.
They arranged houses in HSR Layout and BTM Layout, as well as cab and food facilities.After three weeks of telecaller training,employees were instructed to call customers in the USA using phone US as law enforcement names such as “U.S. Federal Investigation Service,”“U.S.Postal Service Investigation Section,”and similar fake agencies.
Through a live server provided by the company,they would speak to victims,accuse them of being involved in criminal cases,show fake police IDs,and demand money in exchange for avoiding “arrest.”The defrauded amounts were deposited into the company’s wallets or bank accounts.
When investigators examined the computer systems, they found that the accused were using fake“digital arrest scripts”and multiple online calling tools and fake websites to contact US citizens,deceive them,and extort money.
The following electronic devices and materials used for the crime were seized for investigation:41 computer systems (41 monitors,40 CPUs,41 mice,41 keyboards,41 VGA cables,82 power cables,21 LAN cables),2 attendance registers and 4 script notebooks, 25 mobile phones and ID cards,1 IP device,4 routers,and 4 modems In total 16 accused including 8 from Maharashtra,Meghalaya (4),Odisha (1),Madhya Pradesh (1), West Bengal (1), and Gujarat (1) were arrested.
Further investigation is ongoing.The operation was conducted under the supervision of DCP,Southeast Division,Sarah Fatima,and Govardhan Gopal,Assistant Commissioner of Police,CEN Police Station,along with Inspector Harish (HSR Layout Police Station),Inspector Eshwari P.N.(CEN Police Station),and teams from both stations,who successfully apprehended the accused.
The accused had rented the commercial building and two Paying guest accommodation for the last two years and suspected to have cheated many US citizen worth several crores .
The Accused staff used for calling the victims would also be given incentives based on the cheating amount .
Though the police claim that it is one of the biggest international cyber crime racket busted,the police are yet to get the victims to file complaints to proceed with the legal action.
This is just a first layer of the racket while the other layers of operators including the kingpin are operating from outside the state or country,which is being probed , a senior police officer added.
