Operation Chakra 2

October 20, 2023

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India has launched a major crackdown on cyber criminals, conducting searches in 76 locations across the country. This operation, known as ‘Operation Chakra-2’, was initiated after the registration of five separate cases of cyber-enabled financial fraud, including a ₹100-crore crypto scam.

₹100-Crore Cryptocurrency Scam

One of the cases under investigation involves a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over ₹100 crore to Indian victims. The fraudsters operated under the guise of a fake cryptocurrency mining operation, deceiving unsuspecting Indian citizens.

Cases Registered Based on Critical Inputs

The CBI stated that the cases were registered based on critical inputs provided by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Among the cases, two were registered based on complaints from Amazon and Microsoft, where the accused ran call centers impersonating technical support representatives of these companies to target foreign nationals.

Cracking Down on Call Centers

As part of Operation Chakra-2, the CBI conducted searches at nine call centers involved in cyber fraud activities. The accused had systematically targeted foreign nationals, posing as technical support representatives of global IT majors and multinational corporations with online technology-driven trading platforms.

International Collaboration

The CBI is collaborating with various international law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, INTERPOL’s Cyber Crime Directorate and IFCACC, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom, the Singapore Police Force, and the BKA in Germany to follow leads related to the cases.

Seized Items and Bank Accounts Frozen

During the operation, the CBI confiscated 32 mobile phones, 48 laptops/hard disks, images of two servers, 33 SIM cards, pen drives, and froze numerous bank accounts. Additionally, a dump of 15 email accounts was seized, shedding light on the complex web of deceit woven by the accused.

Notifying International Agencies

The CBI is notifying international law enforcement agencies about the identified victims, shell companies, money mules, proceeds of crime, co-accused, and support elements to take comprehensive action against these criminal networks.

Previous Operation Chakra-1

Operation Chakra-1 was conducted by the CBI nearly a year ago in coordination with INTERPOL, the FBI, and police forces of multiple countries. During this operation, searches were conducted at 115 locations across various states.

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