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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has uncovered a cryptocurrency scam in which three people used fraudulent methods to collect Bitcoins worth Rs 260 million from senior citizens in the US and Canada, the federal agency said. All three suspects were arrested. On Friday, the CBI also filed a charge sheet in the case. Federal authorities said in a statement that defendants Tushar Kharbanda, Gaurav Malik and Ankit Jain primarily posed as representatives of foreign law enforcement agencies and services such as Amazon Support and Microsoft Tech Support and sent them to the U.S. to target senior citizens Target Canada has given They collected more than 316 Bitcoins in their Bitcoin wallets, which were exchanged and withdrawn by the gang members in Dubai.
The main accused, Kharbande, along with his associates ran a crime syndicate through fake call centers in Delhi and Noida. That statement said: “The centers led by Mr. Kharbandeh and Mr. Malik have hired more than 150 telephone counselors.” Federal authorities cited cases in which Kharbanda posed as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer and the victims convinced that his identity was being used for fraudulent purposes. “The victim was blackmailed and forced to transfer over C$93,000 through a Bitcoin ATM in Canada, all linked to the crypto wallets of Mr. Kharbandeh and his associates,” the statement said. Mr. Jain played a key role in managing the cryptocurrency wallet and helped Mr. Kharbandeh convert Bitcoin. The CBI said the operation was initiated based on information provided by the RCMP through national headquarters, which is the central point of contact for all Interpol operations.
During the course of the investigation, the CBI searched the residential and official residences of the accused and confiscated digital devices. Scripts for several fraud schemes were uncovered, including impersonation of officials at the U.S. Social Security Administration and fraud activities by the Anti-Fraud Division. The devices also contained identification cards of victims in the United States, providing further evidence of the defendant's modus operandi and scope of the operation, the statement said. The federal agency said it has already registered a case under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
