The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India has successfully disrupted a major transnational cybercrime operation, “Operation Chakra V,” which ran sophisticated tech support scams primarily targeting individuals in the United Kingdom and Australia. This extensive fraudulent scheme is estimated to have defrauded UK citizens of over £390,000. The law enforcement action, carried out on July 7, 2025, involved raids at three locations in Noida, including a fully operational call center.
During the raids, the CBI discovered “FirstIdea,” a fraudulent call center operating from the Noida Special Economic Zone.
This center employed advanced calling infrastructure and malicious scripts to facilitate cross-border anonymity and efficiently target a large number of victims. The meticulously timed operation coincided with the victims’ time zones, allowing for the detection of live scam calls during the raids. Two key operatives, including a partner of “FirstIdea,” were arrested as a result of the intelligence gathered.
The syndicate operated by impersonating technical support staff from well-known multinational companies, notably Microsoft. Their modus operandi involved falsely claiming that victims’ devices were compromised or infected, then extorting money from them under the guise of providing solutions to these non-existent technical problems. This deceptive tactic, combined with the use of spoofed phone numbers and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to route calls through multiple international servers, made it difficult for victims to identify the fraud.
The success of “Operation Chakra V” is attributed to an 18-month “groundbreaking collaboration” between the CBI, the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Microsoft. This joint effort was crucial in identifying the organized crime group and targeting the IT infrastructure they utilized.
Over 100 UK victims were confirmed to have fallen prey to this specific tech support scam, being lured in by pop-up messages suggesting their devices were compromised.
This successful operation against tech support scams comes at a time when other forms of cybercrime are also escalating globally. For instance, a recent report by Nikkei Asia indicates a rapid expansion of scam centers in eastern Myanmar, specifically those involved in crypto scams, despite ongoing crackdowns. This broader context highlights the persistent and evolving nature of transnational cybercrime.
Reference:
