Cyber frauds: CBI searches 76 places, seizes gadgets

Thecbionthursdayconducted searches at 76 locations across the country under Operation Chakra-2 after registering five separate cases of cyber-enabled financial fraud, including a Rs 100-crore crypto scam.

“Thisaudaciousscheme, under the guise of a fake crypto mining operation, targeted unsuspecting Indian citizens, resulting in a staggering loss of over Rs 100 crore to Indian victims,” a CBI spokesperson said.

The searches were conducted at locations in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Delhi and West Bengal. “In the wake of Operation Chakra-ii, 32 mobile phones, 48 laptops/hard disks, images of two servers, 33 SIM cards, and pendriveswereconfiscatedand numerous bank accounts were frozen. The CBI also seized a dumpof 15emailaccounts, illuminatingtheintricatewebofdeceit spun by the accused,” the spokesperson said.

Theofficialssaidthatthecase was registered based on critical inputsprovidedbythefinancial Intelligence Unit (FIU). “Two cases were registered on a complaint from Amazon and Microsoft that the accused ran callcentresandposedastechnical support of the companies to targetforeignnationals. Ninecall centres were searched by the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) under the operation,” the official said.

“In these cases, the accused impersonated a global IT major andamultinationalcorporation with an online technologydriven trading platform. The accused...operating across five states/uts, systematically preyed on foreign nationals, masquerading as technical support representatives,” the spokesperson said.