Delhi Police busts illegal call centre duping US citizens, seven arrested

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted an illegal international call centre posing as technical support, arresting seven key operatives accused of duping US citizens and siphoning money through cryptocurrency transactions, officials said on Thursday.

According to an official statement, the racket, operating from a well-furnished flat in Gujranwala Town in Delhi’s Model Town, had been active for the past four months and primarily targeted US nationals seeking technical support for Apple devices.

During the raid, police seized seven high-end laptops, 16 mobile phones, Voice over IP (VoIP) and networking equipment, and devices installed with Micro SIP software used to receive toll-free number calls, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said.

Several documents containing contact details and sensitive banking information of US citizens, along with Bitcoin wallet QR codes and private keys, were also seized, he added.

Investigators said tele-callers impersonated Apple Support executives and persuaded victims to install remote access applications on their devices. Once access was gained, the accused compromised personal and banking data of the victims.

"In the next stage, another set of callers posed as bankers or representatives of financial institutions and convinced victims to purchase Bitcoin from kiosks in the US. Victims were then manipulated into sharing Bitcoin wallet keys or QR codes, enabling the transfer of cryptocurrency into wallets controlled by the accused," the officer said.

The arrested have been identified as Aman Singh (24) and Janpreet Singh (23), who allegedly worked as supervisors handling Bitcoin wallets, and five tele-callers namely Mayank (24), Mayank Kumar (27), Deepanshu (24), Karan Kapoor (26) and Aman Prasad (26).

Further investigation is underway to trace additional accomplices, financial trails and possible international linkages connected to the fraud, the officer added. PTI SSJ AKY