How CBI Busted Cyber Gang Whose Members Posed as FBI, DEA, SSA Officials

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) busted an organised cyber racket in which criminals posed as officials of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

and Social Security Administration (SSA).For three years, the gang members were using pseudonyms and identified themselves as personnel of US federal investigation agencies. They managed to threaten US nationals since 2022. On Friday, the CBI said it has dismantled the gang after receiving inputs from the FBI.Six arrested had assumed identities of American nationals and coerced US citizens by claiming that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) had been misused for illicit money transactions, narcotics smuggling, and that their assets would be attached.ALSO READ |HPZ Token Scam: Chinese Nationals Duped Indians Of Rs 1000 Crore, Says CBI

Who Are The Arrested Gang Members

• Shubham Singh aka Dominic
• Daltanlian aka Michael
• George T. Zamlianlal aka Miles
• L. Seiminlen Haokip aka Ronny
• Mangkholun aka Maxy
• Robert Thangkhankhual aka David aka Munroin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQhPsB0lVc

"Claiming that their funds were at risk, the accused persons manipulated the victims into transferring USD 8.5 million to cryptocurrency wallets and foreign bank accounts controlled by them," the CBI said in a statement on Friday.On 9 December, the CBI filed a case and started the probe. Between 10–11 December, the anti-corruption agency carried out searches in Delhi, Noida, and Kolkata. The agency also raided an illegal call centre.ALSO READ | Why India's Digital Arrest Menace Forced SC to Step In: Top Court Presses RBI, Tasks CBI With All-India Hunt "During the probe, six persons were intercepted and caught red-handed in an illegal call centre being operated by the accused persons at Noida, Uttar Pradesh," officials said."The accused were channeling the proceeds of crime through virtual assets and bank transfers," the CBI said.Searches conducted at the premises of the illegal call centre and the accused persons led to the seizure of Rs 1.88 crore, 34 electronic devices including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, hard disks, and documents linked to the crime.