Ludhiana Police on Friday said they have busted the “largest-ever” cyber fraud racket in the city. They arrested 132 people who were reportedly running fake call centres and cheating foreign nationals through pop-up scams, remote access fraud, and fake bank security alerts.
While addressing mediapersons, Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said the action was taken based on reliable intelligence about the network. He said coordinated raids were carried out at several places, including commercial units near Sandhu Tower and Silver Oak.
During the operation, police arrested 132 individuals from different illegal call centres operating in the city. The gang was targeting foreign nationals using advanced online fraud methods and financial cheating schemes.
Police said Rs 1.07 crore in cash, 98 laptops, 229 mobile phones, and 19 vehicles were seized. Over 300 bank accounts have been frozen, and more are under investigation. Income Tax Department officials have been informed and have joined the probe.
A case has been registered at Cyber Crime Police Station, Ludhiana, under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act. The accused were using electronic devices and apps to carry out cyber fraud against foreign nationals.
Explaining the method, the Police Commissioner said victims first saw fake pop-up warnings on their computers, often showing Microsoft branding and fake virus alerts or security threats.
The pop-up also showed a customer care number, and the victim was asked to call it. At the same time, the victim’s computer would freeze or appear stuck due to the fake alert.
When the victim called, the number was routed to fraudsters using “X-Lite” software, an internet calling tool used to redirect calls.
Each location had around 8–10 teams, with 6–7 members in each team. These teams had “openers” and “closers”, the officer said. The opener handled the first call and convinced victims to install remote access software like UltraViewer, giving access to victim's computers.
After that, victims were made to run fake system scans. During this, false alerts appeared on screen showing hacked emails, compromised bank accounts, child pornography warnings, and other fake security issues.
Victims were then tricked into opening email accounts, banking apps, and other private data on their systems. With screen sharing and remote access, fraudsters gained access to sensitive information. Then, the victim was falsely informed that his/her bank account had serious security issues and that the call would be transferred to the concerned bank representative, the officer said.
The call was then handled by the “closer”, who pretended to be a bank official and told victims their money was not safe. Victims were then forced to transfer money through several methods, including cash pickup from homes, buying gold and handing it over, purchasing and sharing gift cards like Amazon and Apple, and sending money to fake foreign accounts.
The stolen money was later moved to India through hawala networks, cryptocurrency channels, and other illegal routes. Police said preliminary findings show each operator handled about 8–10 calls daily. Workers were paid fixed salaries along with incentives based on performance.
Further investigation is continuing into digital evidence, money trails, hawala links, crypto transactions, property records, and identification of other people involved in the racket.
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