BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a native of Odisha for his alleged involvement in an international tech support scam targeting Japanese nationals.
A key accused, Dwibendu Moharana was apprehended in connection with a transnational cyber crime syndicate which targeted Japanese citizens through fraudulent tech support scam. As part of its Operation Chakra-V, the central agency arrested Moharana on Thursday after he landed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here. He had been absconding since the last almost six months.
Issuing a statement on Saturday, the CBI said they had found that a network of bogus tech support firms had been cheating Japanese customers by falsely claiming to provide software services on behalf of reputed companies like Microsoft.
The agency carried out coordinated searches on May 28 at 19 locations in New Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and arrested six other scamsters in this connection. However, Moharana had fled to the UAE from Bhubaneswar on May 29, immediately after the agency uncovered his illegal call centre in Noida.
“Investigation revealed he operated an illegal call centre involved in sophisticated social engineering and deception. The accused impersonated as the support staff of multinational companies to coerce Japanese victims into transferring funds under false pretenses,” the CBI said.
After his arrest, Moharana was produced before a CBI court in New Delhi and remanded in three-day police custody for further questioning.
So far, CBI has arrested seven persons in connection with the case and filed charge sheets against all of them. The central agency carried out the operation in close cooperation with the National Police Agency of Japan and Microsoft Corporation, which significantly disrupted the syndicate’s operations.
