New Delhi: In a major operation against tech support scam case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at around 15 locations across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Haryana, and Mumbai on Tuesday. The searches were linked to a large-scale tech support scam, where fake call centers allegedly defrauded foreign nationals by posing as representatives of reputed international companies.

The ED’s action was based on an FIR filed by the Delhi Police, and the searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to officials, the objective was to collect crucial evidence related to money laundering and trace the financial trail of the accused.

Investigations revealed that Karan Verma and his associates were running fake call centers in Delhi’s Rohini, Paschim Vihar, and Rajouri Garden areas. These centers reportedly impersonated customer support agents of global firms such as Microsoft, Apple, and Charles Schwab Financial Services. Once contact was made, the fraudsters allegedly intimidated victims by pretending to be police officers or investigators, extorting money under false pretenses of criminal charges or data breaches.

Authorities found that the extorted money was converted into cryptocurrency and gift cards before being transferred to the perpetrators’ network within India.