Chennai, Oct 20 – In an ongoing effort to combat transnational organized cybercrime networks, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated ‘Operation Chakra-II’ on Thursday. The operation aims to dismantle the infrastructure of organized cyber-enabled financial crimes in India, with raids conducted in 76 locations across multiple states.
Conducted in collaboration with national and international agencies, as well as private sector partners, Operation Chakra-II targeted five cases. Intensive searches were carried out in states including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal, and Himachal Pradesh.
During the operation, the CBI seized 32 mobile phones, 48 laptops/hard disks, images of two servers, 33 SIM cards, and pen drives. Additionally, numerous bank accounts were frozen, and a dump of 15 email accounts was confiscated, revealing the intricate web of deceit spun by the accused.
Operation Chakra-II uncovered two instances of an International Tech Support Fraud Scam, where the accused impersonated a global IT major and a multinational corporation with an online technology-driven trading platform. The fraudsters, operating nine call centers across multiple states/union territories, systematically targeted foreign nationals, posing as Technical Support Representatives.
Furthermore, the operation exposed a sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud operation. Disguised as a fake crypto mining operation, this scheme led to a staggering loss of over Rs.100 crore to Indian victims.
The evidence gathered during Operation Chakra-II will be shared with international law enforcement agencies, including the FBI of the USA, INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom, Singapore Police Force, and Germany’s BKA. The CBI’s collaboration with its international counterparts aims to dismantle these criminal networks comprehensively.
The relentless pursuit of justice by the CBI demonstrates its commitment to holding those responsible for financial crimes accountable under the full force of the law.
