The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in coordination with the FBI and law enforcement agencies across multiple countries through INTERPOL, has arrested 43 individuals as part of the ongoing Operation CHAKRA-III. An official release from the CBI stated that this operation aims to dismantle a sophisticated cyber-enabled financial crime network that has been operating across multiple countries since 2022.
The International Operations Division of the CBI registered a case on July 22, 2024, for offences of cheating and online fraud. Searches were conducted at seven locations across Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida. It was revealed that transnational cyber-enabled financial crimes in this network were being coordinated from a call centre operating in DLF Cyber City, Gurugram.
During these searches, live cyber-criminal operations were intercepted, and substantial incriminating evidence was gathered. The investigation teams have so far recovered 130 computer hard disks, 65 mobile phones, 5 laptops, incriminating documents, financial transaction details, call recordings, victim details, and transcripts used for targeting victims.
The victims were contacted through impersonation and induced to click on pop-ups to download malicious software onto their systems. Subsequently, they were induced to make payments for the restoration of their systems. It has been revealed that the proceeds of these crimes were channeled from multiple countries to Hong Kong. Further investigation is ongoing.