Noida, April 7 (IANS) The Cyber Crime Police Station in Noida has busted a major cyber fraud syndicate and arrested four accused for allegedly duping foreign nationals of crores of rupees by posing as technical support agents, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused were apprehended from Noida’s Sector-76 following a targeted operation based on technical intelligence and local inputs, police added.

According to investigators, the gang ran paid advertisements on the internet and social media platforms, displaying toll-free numbers. Calls made by unsuspecting foreign nationals were routed to calling software installed on the accused’s laptops.

Posing as tech support executives, the accused would convince victims that their devices had been hacked or compromised. They then gained remote access through screen-sharing applications and extracted sensitive banking details.

To heighten panic, the accused would black out victims’ computer screens and threaten data theft, coercing them into making payments. Amounts ranging from $350 to 2,000 were extorted per victim, depending on their financial capability.

Cases involving higher amounts were escalated to a “senior agent”, while the proceeds were routed through cryptocurrency channels and later distributed among the group.

During the operation, police recovered four laptops, eight mobile phones, four headset-microphone devices, and two routers.

Preliminary analysis of the seized devices has revealed transactions worth crores of rupees.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Bilal, 26, Dev Kapahi, 25, Abhishek Mukheja, 27, and Kushagra Nimbekar, 24.

Police said all four are well-educated and spoke fluent English with foreign accents to gain the victims’ trust.

Authorities have urged citizens to remain vigilant against such frauds, avoid sharing personal or banking details, and refrain from granting remote access to unknown callers.

Police said victims of cyber fraud can report incidents on the helpline number 1930 or the National Cyber Crime Portal.

–IANS

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