CBI busts two illegal call centres cheating Japan citizens; 6 held

The accused allegedly posed as Microsoft and Apple support representatives and defrauded Japanese victims of over ₹1.2 crore

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has busted a transnational technical support scam targeting Japanese nationals, arresting six individuals and unearthing two fake call centres after raids at 19 locations across Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the agency said on Thursday.

CBI said the syndicate tricked victims into believing their electronic devices were compromised. (Representational image)

The accused allegedly posed as Microsoft and Apple support representatives and defrauded Japanese victims of over ₹1.2 crore (approximately 20.3 million Japanese Yen).

CBI’s crackdown was part of Operation Chakra V, a nationwide campaign against cybercrime. The federal agency said it worked in close coordination with Japan’s National Police Agency and Microsoft, which helped trace the scammers and their operational setup.

“This international cooperation was critical to identifying the perpetrators and dismantling the syndicate,” the CBI said in a statement.

On Wednesday, six people were arrested: Ashu Singh from Delhi, Kapil Ghakhar from Panipat, Rohit Maurya from Ayodhya, and Shubham Jaiswal, Vivek Raj, and Adarsh Kumar from Varanasi. Two fake call centres, which mimicked legitimate customer support hubs, were also unearthed.

CBI said the syndicate tricked victims into believing their electronic devices were compromised. “They coerced victims into transferring funds into mule accounts under the pretext of fixing supposed issues,” the agency said.

The investigation focused on four incidents between April and July 2024, where Japanese citizens were targeted using a similar modus operandi. Victims received pop-up alerts on their computers claiming a virus infection and were directed to call a number. The calls connected them to scammers in India pretending to be Microsoft or Apple support staff.

Once connected, the fraudsters used remote access tools, extracted sensitive information, and siphoned off funds, often pushing victims to buy gift cards or transfer money directly. In one case, a resident of Hyogo Prefecture lost over JPY 20 million after scammers accessed his bank details and converted the stolen money into cryptocurrency.

Three other victims were duped into purchasing fake gift cards worth JPY 330,000. CBI said the fraudsters’ Japanese was noticeably unnatural, with Hindi chatter audible in the background, and calls traced to Indian phone codes.

An FIR in the case cited two Delhi-based individuals—Manmeet Singh Basra of RK Puram and Jiten Harchand of Chhatarpur Enclave—as key operators who handled lead generation, payment routing, and backend infrastructure. Harchand allegedly managed fund transfers and operated multiple Skype IDs used in the fraud.

Between July and December 2024, 94 malicious URLs linked to Indian IPs generated Japanese-language pop-ups to lure victims.

Preliminary findings suggest the scam used advanced social engineering and tech subterfuge to exploit its targets.