Ahmedabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted raids at various locations in connection with an international call-centre scam accused of defrauding US citizens of more than $20 million through spam calls. The searches at 24 locations in states such as Delhi, UP, Haryana, and Gujarat led to the recovery of Rs. 2.2 crore in cash, foreign currency, details of cryptocurrency accounts, property papers, and other evidence.

The alleged racket, targeted US nationals using schemes like the tech support scam, making “millions of calls” through call centers to deceive them. According to CBI officials, a case was filed on July 7, 2022, claiming that multiple call centres in India had utilised the services of a Gujarat-based VoIP company to conduct millions of fraudulent calls targeting US citizens. Perpetrators of these cyber-enabled crimes impersonated entities such as the US federal grants office, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), CRA, and ATO through VoIP calls. Their modus operandi involved robocalls and audio calls impersonating US agency officials, coercing victims into making payments under the guise of fees, fines, or penalties.

Previous investigations under the CBI’s Operation Chakra in October 2022 led to searches at 11 such call centers. The FBI informed the CBI that the accused in this case already faced indictments in the US for fraudulent activities. Further investigations revealed the involvement of a private individual, a private company, and their associates in perpetrating large-scale fraud against foreign nationals, facilitated by the services of the Gujarat-based company.

The case is registered against E-Sampark Softech Pvt Ltd and its directors, Gaurav Gupta and Praveen Kumar, and three other companies from Ahmedabad: Shivaay Communication at Palladium, owned by Gaje Singh Rathore and others; SM Technomine Pvt Ltd at Atma House on Ashram Road, run by Sanket Modi and others; and Technomine Info Solutions at Mondeal Square in Prahladnagar, run by Rajiv Solanki and others.

E Sampark, along with its directors, transmitted numerous fraudulent calls from scam call centres in India to the United States. They also used the services of US-based companies such as Toll-Free Deals to convey spoofed calls. It is also learned that E-Sampark has leased 60 servers in Florida to provide infrastructure for making calls to the US. DeshGujarat