BHOPAL: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Madhya Pradesh Police will jointly probe a recently busted international cyber racket that allegedly duped Americans by posing as officials of US law enforcement agencies.
In September, the MP police cyber cell had arrested eight men from Gujarat, Bhopal and Jaipur, who were a part of the gang of cyber fraudsters who operated an illegal call centre in Bhopal’s Indrapuri area.
The men, aged between 19 and 29, targeted loan defaulters and duped them in the name of settling their loans with threats of criminal prosecution and arrest. A team of cyber cell led by investigating officer in the case, Inspector Abhishek Sonekar, and Sub Inspector Anuj Samadia recently met with FBI agents at the US Embassy in New Delhi and shared the details of the case.
“While appreciating the efforts of the cyber cell in cracking the racket originating from Bhopal, the FBI officers discussed the entire case with us for over two and half hours, after which they agreed to aid us in digging deeper into the racket,” Sonekar told TNIE on Tuesday.
The FBI agreed to help the cyber cell in locating the actual victims in the US and also to ascertain the actual amount which they were made to pay into multiple accounts. “They will also enable us in verifying the documents prepared by the fraudsters for duping and pressurizing the US citizens to pay money in virtual currency. Also, the verification of notices and arrests warrants prepared by the fraudsters can only be done through the FBI’s help.”
The FBI agents will also aid the investigators in ascertaining the actual sum accumulated through the cyber fraud dating back to over a year and also people living in the US, who were local players of the racket.
According to Sonekar, it will be perhaps the first time that the FBI will work in tandem with any police force in Central India in a major international fraud case. Prior to this, the FBI is believed to have supported the Maharashtra Police in another major case originating from Thane.
Sources told TNIE that the FBI and the Madhya Pradesh police have decided to crack the case in three months.