Delhi Police bust illegal international call centre involved in cyber fraud, 8 held

New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) The Delhi Police have busted an illegal international call centre allegedly involved in cyber fraud and arrested eight people during a raid in South Delhi's Mehrauli area, an official said on Friday.

The action was part of the ongoing 'CyHawk' operation, launched to crack down on cybercrime syndicates operating across the national capital.

The call centre was functioning from the third floor of a building in Mehrauli.

According to police, specific intelligence developed by field teams indicated that a suspected illegal call centre was active in the area.

During the raid, police found an active setup allegedly engaged in cheating foreign nationals by posing as technical support representatives. Cyber forensic experts were called to the spot to examine the systems and digital infrastructure, a senior police officer said.

The accused allegedly used VoIP-based communication, computer-generated phone numbers, misleading pop-up alerts, and remote-access tools to lure victims into believing their computers were infected with malware.

They would then induce victims to call toll-free numbers controlled by the gang, take remote access of their systems through applications, and extract money in the name of providing "technical support." Police said the amounts were collected through gift cards of various denominations. The gang allegedly procured VoIP services, pop-ups, and dialer minutes from external handlers and used dialer applications to mask their identity.

A total of 11 mobile phones, eight laptops with live foreign customer connections, three additional laptops containing data related to the offence, 15 headsets, and two Wi-Fi routers were seized from the premises.

The call centre was being run by Mohit Juneja, and the others involved were identified as Sarthak Sharma, Hitesh, Rehan, Pranav, Abhishek, Manav Taneja, and a woman, police said.

Seven of them were produced before a court and remanded in two-day police custody.

An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act.

Police said data from the seized digital devices has been secured, and efforts are underway to trace the money trail, identify associated bank accounts, and establish linkages with wider cyber-fraud networks.

Delhi Police said they remain committed to strengthening action against cybercrime and ensuring protection for citizens from online fraud. PTI SSJ HIG HIG