Cyberabad Police Busts Fake International Call Centre That Cheated Australians Of Crores

The Cyberabad Police have unearthed a highly organised fake international call centre that defrauded Australian citizens of an estimated ₹8 to ₹10 crore over the past two years. Operating under the guise

of an IT service firm named “Ridge IT Solutions,” the racket ran from an office in Hyderabad’s Madhapur.

A joint operation by the Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT) and the Cyber Crime Police led to the arrest of nine individuals, with officials indicating that further arrests are likely. A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station, and investigators are now tracing foreign links and financial routes connected to the scam.

The syndicate targeted Australians using fake pop-ups and emails claiming their computers were hacked. When victims called the “customer support” number displayed on the pop-up, their calls were routed through the X-Lite application to the fake call centre.

Tele-callers, trained in social engineering, persuaded victims to install AnyDesk — a remote access software. This gave the fraudsters full control over the victims’ devices, allowing them to access online banking credentials and siphon off large amounts of money.

The stolen funds were laundered through a network of Australian bank accounts held by Indian students and nationals — used as “mule accounts.” The money was then moved to India using hawala channels and cryptocurrency transactions, making the trail harder to trace.

During the raid, police seized key evidence, including details of 45 Australian bank accounts, suggesting the operation may have exploited hundreds of accounts over the two years.

The masterminds behind the racket were identified as Praveen and Prakash, cousins from Khammam district. They set up the fake call centre last year and recruited seven tele-callers from Kolkata, providing them with accommodation and training specifically for cyber fraud.

Two locals from Khammam — Yepuri Ganesh (30) and Marampudu Chenna Keshava (26) — handled day-to-day office operations and staff movement in the Madhapur area.