In a significant victory against international cybercrime, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has announced the successful dismantling of a sophisticated transnational cybercrime syndicate responsible for orchestrating large-scale tech support scams targeting citizens in the United Kingdom and Australia.
The operation, conducted under the CBI’s ongoing “Operation Chakra-V,” targeted a fully functional fake call centre operating under the name “FirstIdea” in the Noida Special Economic Zone. According to CBI officials, the syndicate specialized in impersonating technical support representatives from leading multinational companies, including Microsoft. Fraudsters would contact unsuspecting foreign nationals, falsely claim their computers were compromised, and then extort payments under the guise of providing technical assistance for non-existent problems.
The CBI meticulously timed its raids to coincide with the syndicate’s peak calling hours, enabling investigators to catch the perpetrators in the act. During the operation, authorities seized advanced calling infrastructure, malicious software scripts, and extensive documentation detailing the scale of the fraudulent activity. Investigators also intercepted live scam calls being made to victims in the UK and Australia, providing further evidence of the ongoing criminal enterprise.
The operation was conducted in close collaboration with international partners, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), and Microsoft Corporation. This coordinated approach underscores the increasingly global nature of cybercrime and the necessity for cross-border cooperation in combating such threats.
