Cyber Crime
Lucknow Police Crack Down on Fake Call Centre: 12 Cyber Fraudsters Held
Lucknow: In a major crackdown, Lucknow Police have dismantled a fake call centre and arrested 12 individuals involved in cyber fraud, officials announced on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) and PGI police station conducted a raid apprehending the suspects at a flat in Everest Enclave, Sector 18, Vrindavan Yojana.
The police seized a large cache of electronic equipment during the raid, including 11 laptops, a Samsung tablet, two airfiber units, two routers, five headphones, two mice, and 17 mobile phones, indicating the scale of the fraudulent operations.
The arrested cyber criminals had developed a sophisticated scheme targeting foreign nationals, primarily from the United States and Canada. They deliberately introduced bugs into the victims’ computer systems, triggering pop-up messages that appeared to be technical errors. When the affected individuals attempted to resolve these issues, the fraudsters would contact them, impersonating technical support agents.
Once they gained the victims’ trust, the criminals obtained remote access to their devices and coerced them into making payments, often through cryptocurrency or gift cards, to supposedly fix the fabricated problems. This led to significant financial losses for the victims.
The police have registered a case under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act, including charges of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and organized crime.
Authorities are now investigating their criminal backgrounds to uncover any prior offenses.
Efforts are ongoing to ensure all those involved are brought to justice, with authorities continuing to probe the full extent of the call centre’s illegal activities.