By Rahil Nora Chopra
NEW DELHI: In a multi-state crackdown on organised cybercrime, the CBI has arrested 26 alleged cybercriminals involved in fraudulent activities targeting people globally, officials said on Monday.
The action under operation Chakra-III started with raids at 32 different places across Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam late night last Thursday. The central agency has seized Rs 58.45 lakh cash, locker keys and three luxury vehicles, they said.
Four call centres — V.C. Inconformities Pvt. Ltd at Regent Plaza, Pune; V.C. Infrometrix Pvt. Ltd, Murli Nagar, Visakhapatnam; Viajex Solutions, Hyderabad; and Atriya Global Services Pvt. Ltd, Visakhapatnam — were among the places raided by the agency. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intercepted 170 people engaged in live online criminal activities across the four call centers, the officials said. “The cybercriminals targeted in this operation were involved in a range of illicit activities, including impersonating… Tech support services and approaching victims, especially in the USA in the guise that the victim's systems have been hacked,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. He said the victims were convinced by the criminals that their identities had been stolen and that a large number of unauthorised transactions were being made in their bank accounts. The scammers told the victims that they were under the scanner of investigation agencies of their respective countries, he added. “The cybercriminals then induced the victims to transfer their bank holdings into new bank accounts given by cybercriminals in the guise of safeguarding their finances.
