NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a key accused in a sophisticated call centre racket that defrauded US nationals of $15 million between November 2022 and April 2024, the agency said on Wednesday.
The illegal call centres operated from Noida and Gurugram, and the accused, charged with money-laundering, has been identified as Chandra Prakash Gupta.
Scammers used fake Microsoft security pop-ups to trick victims into calling fraudulent support numbers. Using remote access software like TeamViewer, the scammers gained control of victims’ computers, extracted banking credentials and coerced them to wire-transfer funds under false Federal Reserve protection claims, the ED said.
“The proceeds were laundered through Hong Kong accounts and cryptocurrencies. ED seized assets worth over `100 crore, including jewellery, vehicles, and luxury watches, with key accused still absconding,” the agency said.
Gupta had been absconding since July 2024, leading to the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against him. ED initiated investigation on the basis of a CBI FIR. Further investigation led ED to conduct searches on December 19 and 20 at 10 locations across the NCR, linked to the masterminds and associates of the scam.