On 12th December 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that it had dismantled a massive transnational cybercrime network in Noida. The scammers robbed US nationals of $8.5 million. Acting on the inputs from the US’s FBI, the CBI conducted searches on 10th and 11th December at an illegal call centre operated by six accused persons in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida.
During the searches, the CBI officials recovered Rs 1.88 Crore, 34 electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, hard disks, and incriminating documents pertaining to the crime.
In a press statement, the CBI said, “The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USA, has successfully dismantled a sophisticated virtual asset supported cyber-crime network that has been targeting US nationals since 2022.”
Explaining the modus operandi of the cyber criminals, the CBI stated, “During the period 2022-2025, the accused individuals operating under pseudonymous identities of US Government officials from Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Social Security Administration (SSA), conspired to target US victims by threatening them that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries and that all of their assets would be freezed. 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. CBI registered the case on 09.12.2025 and launched investigation. CBI swiftly conducted extensive searches at multiple locations in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, linked to the accused persons, yielding substantial incriminating evidence.”
The probe further informed that during the searches, the investigators caught six persons operating the illegal call centre in Noida. The call centre was dismantled, and the accused fraudsters were arrested.
On December 16th, the US Embassy in India took to X, lauding the CBI’s dismantling of the transnational cybercrime network, calling the action a “great example of US-India partnership in action.”
“A great example of #USIndia partnership in action! In coordination with the @FBI, India’s CBI disrupted a transnational cybercrime network that defrauded U.S. nationals of $8.5 million through tech-support scams. @CBIHeadquarters arrested those behind the network and recovered significant illicit proceeds. Thanks to strong law enforcement cooperation, our two countries are hard at work keeping our citizens safe!” the US Embassy in India posted.