According to officials, the suspects posed as representatives from Microsoft and Apple to deceive victims into believing their electronic devices were compromised. These cybercriminals manipulated their targets—mainly Japanese nationals—into transferring over ₹1.2 crore (approximately 20.3 million Japanese Yen) under the pretense of resolving non-existent technical issues.
The investigation, carried out in collaboration with Japan’s National Police Agency and Microsoft, played a key role in tracing the culprits and dismantling their infrastructure. The CBI emphasized that international cooperation was vital in identifying the criminal network and its operations.
Among those arrested were Ashu Singh from Delhi, Kapil Ghakhar from Panipat, Rohit Maurya from Ayodhya, and three Varanasi residents—Shubham Jaiswal, Vivek Raj, and Adarsh Kumar. These individuals operated two fake customer support centres that mirrored legitimate ones in appearance but were in fact used to run scams.
The fraud typically began when victims received pop-up messages on their computers claiming a security threat. They were prompted to call a number, which connected them to scammers based in India pretending to be technical support staff. Once in contact, the scammers gained remote access to the victims’ systems, stole sensitive information, and urged them to make payments through bank transfers or by purchasing gift cards. In one severe case, a resident of Hyogo Prefecture lost over JPY 20 million after the attackers converted stolen funds into cryptocurrency.
Language discrepancies during calls, such as awkward Japanese and audible Hindi in the background, helped authorities trace the origin of the calls. Investigators identified Manmeet Singh Basra of RK Puram and Jiten Harchand of Chhatarpur Enclave as key figures responsible for managing lead generation, financial transfers, and the technical setup behind the fraud. Harchand has reportedly operated numerous Skype accounts used in the scam.
Between July and December 2024, the operation used 94 malicious Japanese-language URLs, traced to Indian IP addresses, to lure victims with fake alerts. The scheme relied heavily on social engineering tactics and tech deception, making it a highly sophisticated cyber fraud campaign with international implications.
