In a major action on 12 December 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has dismantled an international cyber crime network operating from Noida. This network was targeting American citizens and defrauding millions of dollars since the year 2022. According to CBI, this gang defrauded American citizens of about US$8.5 million. This action was taken on the basis of concrete input received from America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On December 10 and 11, the CBI raided an illegal call center in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, which was being operated by six accused. During the raids, the agency recovered Rs 1.88 crore in cash, 34 electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, hard disks and several incriminating documents to cyber crime.

“The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on inputs from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has successfully dismantled a sophisticated virtual asset enabled cyber crime network targeting US citizens since 2022,” the CBI said in its official statement.

According to the investigating agency, between 2022 and 2025, the accused used to scare the victims by posing as officers of America’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Social Security Administration (SSA). Explaining the modus operandi of the fraud, the CBI said, “The accused used to threaten that the victims’ Social Security Number (SSN) was used for money laundering and drug delivery and that all their assets would be frozen. By saying that their money was in danger, the accused forced the victims to transfer US$ 8.5 million to cryptocurrency wallets and foreign bank accounts under their control.”

CBI said that a case was registered in this matter on 9 December 2025 and investigation was started immediately. After this, extensive searches were conducted at several places linked to the accused in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, in which a large amount of evidence was recovered. During the raid, the illegal call center running in Noida was closed on the spot and six accused were arrested.

This action has also been appreciated at the international level. On December 16, the US Embassy in India praised the CBI action on social media platform X, calling it an excellent example of India-US cooperation. The US Embassy wrote, “A great example of #USIndia partnership! India’s CBI, in coordination with @FBI, dismantled an international cyber crime network that defrauded US citizens of $8.5 million through tech-support scams. @CBIHeadquarters arrested the people behind this network and recovered large amounts of illicit funds. Our two countries are working together to keep our citizens safe, thanks to strong law enforcement cooperation.”

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