Three persons have been arrested from Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) of India for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate scam targeting senior citizens in United States and Canada by posing as local law enforcement officials and extorting money through Bitcoins worth Rs 260 crore or $30.6 million
The Central Bureau of Investigation of India (CBI) made these arrests on Friday and exposed a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam where the three individuals operated fake call centers in Delhi and Noida. The agency further added that the scammers mostly posed as representatives from foreign law enforcement agencies, Amazon support, Microsoft tech support, and other services, and targeted the victims.
According to CBI agents, the scam was set up and done by three individuals—Tushar Kharbanda, Gaurav Malik, and Ankit Jain. Police added that Jain played a crucial role in managing the crypto wallets and converting the stolen Bitcoins into cash. They managed to collect over 316 Bitcoins in their digital wallets, which were later converted and withdrawn by their partner in Dubai. T
CBI said that the scammers had employed over 150 tele-callers to execute their schemes. In one instance, Kharbanda acted as an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and convinced the victims that their identity was being misused for criminal activities. The victims used to come under pressure and they transferred over 93,000 Canadian Dollars into cryptocurrency via Bitcoin ATMs, which were linked to the gang’s wallets.
During the investigation, the CBI raided the residential and official premises of the victims and seized digital devices revealing scripts for several fraud schemes, including the impersonation of US Social Security Administration officers and fraudulent interactions with fraud prevention departments.
The CBI said the action was initiated based on information provided by the RCMP through the National Central Bureau, a country’s focal point for all Interpol activities. CBI further added that the action was taken based on information provided by the RCMP through the National Central Bureau, a country’s focal point for all Interpol activities.
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