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Bengaluru Police Bust Fake BPO Accused of ‘Digital Arrest’ Extortion Targeting U.S. and Canada

Investigators say the unit forms one layer of a larger cross-border racket.

Overview

  • Police announced 16 arrests after an October 7 raid on Cybits Solutions in HSR Layout, which officials say trained telecallers to intimidate foreign victims.
  • Callers allegedly posed as U.S. enforcement officials, used fake IDs and scripts, and threatened arrest over fabricated drug or money-laundering cases to coerce payments.
  • Officers seized extensive electronic evidence, including 41 computer systems, 25 mobile phones, script notebooks, attendance registers, routers, modems and an IP device.
  • Recruits were sourced via job portals such as LinkedIn and WorkIndia, received three weeks of telecaller training, worked night shifts with company-arranged lodging, and were paid incentives that police say reached up to Rs 5 lakh a month.
  • A suo motu case has been registered, the accused are in judicial custody, investigators have notified the FBI, and police are tracing victims and financial flows they suspect total several crores.