The CBI has booked an Ahmedabad-based individual and his unnamed associates for allegedly targeting U.S. citizens And extorting money from them.
Impersonating as American federal agents, the group reportedly defrauded more than 20 victims of $6 million, people familiar with the matter said.
A detailed probe revealed accused persons ran illegal call centers since two years and sent pop-up messages to victims claiming that their computers had been compromised. Once the victims called on the numbers sent by the accused, they posed as officials of the U.S. agencies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s U.S. Attorney’s Office and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencies.
Briefing the media about the modus operandi, the CBI said,”When the victims contacted on the number displayed on their computer screen, the accused communicated with the victims under pseudonymous identities of officers of Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Attorney, Critical Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal agencies, falsely informing the victims that their identities have been used by someone else and child pornography had been accessed from their computers”.
In which the victims were induced to purchase gold bars or gift cards by withdrawing funds from their accounts and hand them over to couriers or provide gift card numbers and that their assets were being safeguarded by the U.S. government. The gang members allegedly even sent fake messages and emails posing as government officials. Once the victim purchased the gift card, she would be provided a fake receipt from the FTC informing that her money had been safeguarded and the Home Depot gift cards in a federal locker assigned.
An FIR has been filed by CBI naming Ankit Satish Chandra Pandey, a resident of Amit Shah, Ahmedabad and other unknown others for cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and sections of Information Technology Act.
The FIR states: “A reliable information has been received that the accused persons have been running illegal call centres at Ahmedabad since 2024 and targeting US citizens online and subjecting them to tech fraud or identity theft impersonation fraud”.