India police bust call center scam, arrest 9 in major cyber heist
HARYANA, INDIA — Gurugram police have dismantled a fraudulent call center operation, arresting individuals linked to a cyber scam.
The accused siphoned funds from a private company’s account, transferring thousands to multiple bank accounts before being caught in a coordinated raid.
Cybercrime syndicate uncovered
The Tribune India reported that the victim disclosed unauthorized transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company’s account between May 19 and 27, which were initiated through deceptive WhatsApp messages impersonating the firm’s owner.
Police traced the transactions to accounts controlled by four Delhi-based suspects—Gaurav, Jatin Sharma, Shivam, and Ankit—who had received ₹29.60 lakh (US$34,565.73) and ₹32.50 lakh (US$37,952.24), respectively.
Further investigations led authorities to Bihar’s Siwan district, where a raid uncovered five more suspects—Aftab, Mohammad Arif, Irshad Hussain, Wazir Ali, and Amlesh Kumar—actively laundering money via mobile devices.
“The accused revealed that an associate from their village provided them with details of bank accounts. His other associate tells about when and how much money has to be transferred to the bank account,” revealed Priyanshu Jain, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
With 17 phones, three laptops, and ATM cards seized, the operation highlights the expanding reach of cybercriminal networks across state lines.
Rising cyber fraud tactics demand stronger corporate vigilance
The case underscores how fraudsters exploit digital communication channels, such as WhatsApp, to impersonate executives and bypass financial safeguards.
The victim, an unsuspecting employee, only detected the scam after the money had been transferred, highlighting gaps in real-time transaction monitoring. Police data indicates a surge in such cases, where urgency and authority manipulation trick employees into transferring funds.
The Gurugram arrests serve as a warning to corporations to tighten internal controls, especially as remote work expands vulnerabilities to social engineering attacks.
