CBI to step up crackdown on cybercrime syndicates by coordinating with international agencies

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, will this year further intensify action against cybercriminals operating as syndicates with links in multiple countries. In many cases, “lone wolf” perpetrators have also been found indulging in online frauds using various modus operandi.

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The new year began with the agency registering a case against seven people who allegedly ran separate cybercrime modules and had cheated people of at least ₹350 crore. The accused were operating from Delhi, Hazaribag (Jharkhand), Bathinda (Punjab), Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), Valsad (Gujarat), Pudukkottai (Tamil Nadu), and Chittorgarh (Rajasthan).

The criminals would float Ponzi and fraudulent schemes, including micro-loans and investments in cryptocurrency, to trap people. They would reach out to prospective victims through social media groups. A significant portion of the ill-gotten money was converted into cryptocurrencies and stored in virtual wallets to evade detection.

“This case is an example of how ‘lone-wolf’ cybercriminals have also been active. The rising menace of cybercrimes has also been highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address in October 2024, during which he cautioned people against the ‘Digital Arrest’ fraud being committed to scam people by making phone or video calls posing mostly as law enforcement officials,” said an agency official, adding that an integrated mechanism is being developed for effective crackdown.

BHARATPOL portal

The recently launched Broadcast Hub for Assistance and Real-time Action against Transnational Crimes via International Police Cooperation (BHARATPOL) will play a key role in facilitating speedy crackdown on cybercrime networks.

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The CBI, being the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India and also the designated authority for cooperation through the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, coordinates between various Indian law enforcement agencies and their counterparts in other countries to help solve such transnational crimes besides cases of economic offences and drug/human trafficking.

The online portal is a unified platform which connects the CBI with all domestic law enforcement agencies, which can generate prompt requests for international assistance through the Interpol using the platform. It may involve issuance of Interpol notices for tracking of criminals and even assets associated with criminals/crime syndicates (via the recently launched Silver Notice as a pilot project).

The platform also serves as a centralised repository for exchange of instrumental resources, analytical reports, drafting templates, training and capacity building material for equipping investigators and field officers with the latest tools and techniques.

Citing the recent instances of action against cybercriminals, the official said the CBI filed a chargesheet last month against three people. The case was registered following inputs from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), stating that accused Tushar Kharbanda — posing as an RCMP official — cheated people of more than 93,000 Canadian dollars into cryptocurrency.

Fraud call centres

Mr. Kharbanda, who is from Noida, allegedly targeted elderly U.S. and Canadian nationals through a fraudulent call-centre operating in Delhi and Noida. The call centre, run by him and co-accused Gaurav Malik, employed more than 150 telecallers who posed as representatives of enforcement agencies or of major tech companies.

During the probe, another alleged accomplice named Ankit Jain was identified. He purportedly managed crypto wallets and assisted Mr. Kharbanda in converting Bitcoins collected from foreign victims into another cryptocurrency. More than 316 Bitcoins equivalent to ₹260 crore were received in the wallets. The funds were withdrawn in Dubai.

Earlier in July 2024, the CBI arrested 43 alleged cybercriminals following searches at a Gurugram-based call centre that had been operating since 2022 targeting foreigners on the pretext of repairing their computer software. The action was taken, as part of an operation codenamed “Chakra-III”, in cooperation with other international law enforcement agencies, including the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Interpol.

‘Chakra’ operations

During the “Chakra-II” operation, in October 2023, the CBI had cracked two cases of international online investment fraud. The agency found that Indian citizens were being cheated on the pretext of investment, loan, and job opportunities. Singaporean citizens were also targeted by the syndicates.

The agency identified 137 shell companies that were used for transfer of funds. The second case, in which about 400 Singaporean citizens were cheated, pertained to more than 300 cyber-enabled frauds involving more than 100 Indian bank accounts in 10 States/Union Territory.

Five other cases were covered under “Chakra-II”, including those related to illegal call centres that targeted more than 2,000 Amazon and Microsoft customers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The CBI had initiated the “Chakra-I” operation in October 2022 when two such call centres being run since 2014-15 were detected in Pune and Ahmedabad. Through these, the criminal syndicates were cheating U.S. citizens. A tip-off in this regard was provided by the FBI.