CBI and Delhi Police assist FBI in busting ‘tech-support’ scam that targeted U.S. and Canadian citizens

Five men were charged in an indictment and a woman from New Jersey pleaded guilty in connection with the scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Delhi Police have assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in busting a major scam, which duped thousands of the U.S., and Canadian citizens over the past decade on the pretext of providing remote tech-support.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice statement, five men were charged in an indictment and a New Jersey woman pleaded guilty in connection with a trans-national technical support scam that targeted more than 20,000 victims, many of whom were elderly, in the U.S. and Canada, Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Friday. The fraud ring generated over $10 million in proceeds.

Accused Gagan Lamba (41) and Harshad Madaan (34), both from Delhi; Jayant Bhatia (33) of Ontario, Canada, and Vikash Gupta (33) from Faridabad in Haryana, have been charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and substantive violations of wire fraud and computer fraud. Gagan, Harshad, Jayant and one Kulwinder Singh (34) from New York have also been accused of money laundering and associated offences.

Harshad was arrested on December 14 and Vikas on the next day, on the allegation of being involved in the “tech support” scheme. The U.S. Attorney thanked the CBI and the Delhi Police for their assistance in making the arrests. Gagan is yet to be arrested, while Jayant was arrested by the Canadian authorities on request from their U.S. counterparts. Kulwinder was arrested in New York and released on $1 lakh unsecured bond. Accused Meghna Kumar (50) has pleaded guilty.

The accused persons gained access to the personal computers of victims. “They frequently preyed upon senior citizens and scared them into paying for unnecessary and useless computer repair services..,” said the statement, adding that the primary objective was to trick the victims into believing that their personal computers were infected with a virus or malware and then convince them to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for repair services.

Explaining the modus operandi, it said the gang caused “fraudulent pop-up windows” to appear on the victims’ personal computers.