Illegal international call centre targeting US victims busted in Delhi, 11 held

New Delhi: The Delhi Police's Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit has busted an illegal international call centre operating from rented premises in Pitampura and targeting victims in the US through a sophisticated tech-support fraud, and arrested or apprehended 11 people, including two women.

According to the police, the syndicate defrauded victims of approximately Rs 100 crore. During the operation, the police seized Rs 41 lakh in cash, 29 laptops, 25 mobile phones, eight routers, and a car.

The action followed intelligence gathered by IFSO teams regarding cybercriminal networks operating in Delhi. On September 21, a team led by Inspector Data Ram, under the supervision of ACP Prem Chandra Khanduri and overall guidance of DCP, IFSO, Gaurav Tyagi, received information about an illegal international call centre operating in the Pitampura area.

A raid was subsequently conducted at House No. 249, Shivaji Market, Pitampura Village. During the search of the third and fourth floors of the rented premises, 11 persons were found operating a high-tech call centre and cheating victims in the US by posing as technical support personnel.

The accused induced victims to transfer money through gift cards after convincing them that their computers or bank accounts had been compromised.

A case, FIR No. 224/2026, dated September 22, was registered at the Special Cell police station under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act. Investigation was subsequently taken up.

According to investigators, the syndicate targeted victims in the US through a tech-support scam. The back-end team would remotely install malware on victims’ computers, triggering pop-ups directing them to contact a toll-free number for technical assistance.

When victims called the number, their calls were routed to the Pitampura call centre through Micro-SIP, a soft-phone application. Trained agents allegedly followed pre-defined scripts and falsely claimed that the victims’ computers had been infected or compromised.

The victims were then persuaded to install UltraViewer, allowing the fraudsters to obtain remote access to their computers. They were subsequently told that their bank accounts were also at risk because of the alleged malware infection.

The victims were then transferred to another person posing as a bank official. The fake banker reportedly contacted them using US-based numbers through the Google Voice application and induced them to purchase gift cards, including iTunes, Sephora, Target, and Google Pay cards.

In some cases, victims were persuaded to transfer cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, purportedly to resolve the technical or banking issue. The gift-card details were subsequently shared through WhatsApp groups with key members of the syndicate and allegedly redeemed or encashed elsewhere.

Police said the accused also used forged communications purportedly issued by the FBI and other US federal agencies to intimidate victims and lend credibility to the scam. The fraudsters used fake names such as Williams, Rayan, Sofi, Genny and Alex while communicating with victims.

The arrested or apprehended accused have been identified as Kawal Preet Singh alias Sunny Singh, 43, of Shiv Nagar, Janakpuri; Prashant Nanda, 29, of Hari Nagar Ashram; Akshat Singh alias Shivam, 25, of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Chitra Narah, 27, of Pitampura Village; Rohan Jairath, 31, of Arya Samaj Road, Uttam Nagar; Gaurav Saklani, 24, of Canal Road, Dehradun; Sachin Ghildiyal alias Sachin Sharma, 26, of Pradhan Enclave, Burari; Irshad Rahman, 22, of Goal Para, Assam; Navneet alias Naveen, 28, of Pitampura Village, Shivaji Market; Nigthoujam, 25, of Assam; and Phebo Wangshu, 27, of Arunachal Pradesh.

Further investigation is underway.

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