CBI busts call centre fraud targeting Australian, UK citizens; operative arrested in Noida

In an official release, the agency said it arrested the key operative from Noida

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested an operative of a transnational cybercrime syndicate that allegedly ran a tech support scam targeting citizens of the UK and Australia, officials said Tuesday.

In an official release, the agency said it arrested the key operative from Noida. Officials said on Tuesday, they arrested Nishant Walia, partner at FirstIdea, in connection with a transnational cybercrime syndicate that allegedly ran a tech support scam targeting citizens of the UK and Australia.

The arrest of Nishant Walia, partner at FirstIdea, was part of the agency's ongoing Operation Chakra V against cyber criminals masquerading as technical support representatives of renowned multinational firms, including Microsoft targeting citizens of the UK and Australia.

In its crackdown, the CBI raided three premises in Noida on Monday including at a fully functional fraudulent call centre operating from the Special Economic Zone where Walia was arrested.

"The operation was precisely synchronised with the time zones of the intended victims, allowing investigators to intercept live scam calls during the raid," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. The call centre, operating under the name FirstIdea, was found to be technologically sophisticated, enabling cross-border anonymity and large-scale victim targeting, the agency said.

Following the registration of the case, the CBI closely worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), and Microsoft Corporation to trace the syndicate's operations and identify its key actors.

The searches led to the seizure of substantial digital evidence, including sophisticated communication infrastructure, malicious software scripts used to manipulate victims, and documents detailing the extent of the fraud and extortion scheme.

The syndicate allegedly conned overseas victims by falsely claiming that their electronic devices were compromised, then extorted payments under the pretence of offering technical support to fix fabricated issues, the spokesperson said.

With inputs from PTI