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Bengaluru police bust cybercrime racket offering fake legal services to fraud victims
The complainant alleged he was cheated of ₹1.5 crore after being lured into installing a solar plant.
In a major crackdown on cybercrime, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and Cyber Crime Police Station of the Bengaluru City Police have busted a large-scale cyber fraud network that duped victims by offering fake online legal services.
The operation was launched following a complaint registered on February 12, 2025, at the Ramamurthy Nagar Police Station through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, news agency PTI reported.
The complainant alleged he was cheated of ₹1.5 crore after being lured into installing a solar plant.
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While searching online for legal assistance to recover the lost money, the victim came across a website named Quickmoto Legal Service. Soon after, multiple individuals claiming to represent the company contacted the victim and promised legal help. Convinced by their assurances, the complainant transferred ₹12.5 lakh in stages, only to later find out that the company itself was a fraud.
The case was transferred to the CCB’s Cyber Crime Station for further investigation. A special team was formed under the leadership of Mr Ajay Hilori, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). Investigators found that Quickmoto Legal had no physical presence at its listed address.
Digging deeper, the team discovered a call centre operating under the name India Legal Service in Kasturinagar, Bengaluru. A preliminary investigation revealed that multiple telecallers had been hired to contact cyber fraud victims using the VoIP-based application Zoiper-5. One key individual from the call centre was arrested.
Further investigation uncovered that the mastermind behind the racket was operating from Dubai. He had set up several fake companies and a network dedicated to online scams. One of the companies, India Legal, was used as a front for this operation. It employed 12 telecallers who lured cyber fraud victims by promising to help recover their money.
The prime accused was produced in court and remanded to seven days of police custody.
Searches conducted across seven call centres led to the seizure of 10 computer hard drives, fake company seals, lease agreements, cheque books, and other incriminating documents. Authorities also recovered one mobile phone, one CPU, 11 Vodafone SIM cards, and SIP trunk server system data.
Police have confirmed that the organisation was involved in illegal financial transactions running into crores of rupees. Over 29 cases have been registered against this network across India on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
The investigation is ongoing to identify and apprehend other individuals involved in the scam. The operation was executed under the leadership of DCP (Crime-2) Mr. Raja Imam Qasim, with technical support from the Department of Telecommunications and in coordination with Tata Teleservices.
The entire operation was conceptualised and monitored by Bengaluru Police Commissioner Mr. Seemanth Kumar Singh, IPS, with oversight from Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mr. Ajay Hilori and DCP (Crime-2) Mr. Raja Imam Qasim. The investigating team included Mr. Santosh Ram, Mr. Umesh Kumar, PSI Kuber, PSI Ashwini, ASI Shanthakumar, Vanraj, Naveen, Sridevi, and technical experts Sunil and Kiran Teli.
(With PTI inputs)
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