Ninety-six people have reportedly been arrested in India for allegedly extorting bitcoin from foreigners. They set up illegal call centers, set them up as police officers, and told victims that their bank accounts had been used in illegal transactions. They also threatened to arrest the victims immediately and freeze their assets.
Bitcoin Arrests Arrested in India
Delhi police have reportedly arrested 96 people for allegedly extorting bitcoin from foreign nationals through fake call center schemes. According to local media, 54 people were arrested for running a call center in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar district and 42 arrested for running a similar scheme in Peeragarhi.
The operation in Moti Nagar was controlled from Dubai, PTI reported last week, adding that it cheated more than 4,500 people out of about Rs 100 crore, according to police.
The victims were told that their details came up in criminal proceedings and that their bank accounts had been used for illegal transactions to fund drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia, the Police Commissioner (DCP) explained. The scammers then warned the victims that their bank accounts and other assets were frozen and they would be arrested immediately.
The scammers gave victims two options – take legal action or accept an alternative dispute resolution – stressing that the latter option would be easier and faster. After selecting the dispute resolution option, victims were asked to share financial details, including bank account numbers and the amount of money in the accounts.
Meanwhile, the victims were told that the only way to protect their finances was to buy bitcoins or gift cards with all the money in their bank accounts. The DCP explained that the bitcoins were then transferred to the call center-managed wallets, but the victims were told that they were secure government wallets.
DCP Deputy Cybercrime Anyesh Roy detailed that a raid had taken place and that arrests had been made. In addition, “eighty-nine desktop and server computers were found on the spot and these were seized.”
Police explained that during the interrogation, the accused revealed that they had contacted foreign nationals, including US citizens. They stood as law enforcement officers or officials of other government agencies, such as the US Social Security Administration, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the US Marshals Service.
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