In its first major operation, the Karnataka Cyber Command Unit (CCU) has cracked down on a fraudulent Indian company in eastern Bengaluru, which is believed to have cheated over 500 employees working in the United States. According to senior police officials, the scale of the scam runs into crores of rupees.
The CCU has arrested 21 employees of the bogus firm, which operated under the name Musk Communications in Varthur Kodi near Whitefield.
However, the kingpin, the owner of the company who had hired the arrested employees, is absconding. Investigators believe several more individuals are involved in the racket.
Pronab Mohanty, Director-General of Police and head of CCU, told The Hindu that they suspected more than 500, and possibly over 1,000 people, may have fallen victim to the scam.
Modus operandi
Top police officials said that the fraudsters had executed a sophisticated cybercrime modus operandi that combined exceptional communication skills with high-end technology.
The modus operandi is four-layered: deployment of malicious Facebook advertisements, execution of malicious code and system locking, inducing panic by claiming hacking and data compromise, and extorting money in the name of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) compliance.
The fraudsters begin by running targeted Facebook advertisement campaigns aimed specifically at users in the U.S., embedding malicious code within what appear to be legitimate service links or security alerts.
When a user clicks on these ads, the code activates and causes the computer to freeze or lock, immediately triggering a fake warning pop-up claiming to be from ‘Microsoft Global Technical Support’ and displaying a bogus helpline number.
Once the victim calls the number, the scammers impersonate technical support staff and create panic by falsely asserting that the computer has been hacked, the IP address has been compromised, and sensitive banking and personal data are at imminent risk.
Exploiting this fear, they then demand money under the pretext of resolving supposed hacking issues and claim that the FTC is involved for violating norms. The impersonators claim that the money is for paying the security fixes, compliance procedures, or immediate risk mitigation. Through this fabricated narrative, they collect large sums from the victims.
Unravelling the scam
The scam was being run from a 4,500-sq ft office masquerading as a call centre on the sixth floor of the Delta building in Sigma Soft Tech Park. The CCU received specific intelligence and kept the company under watch for a brief period, which confirmed that it was operating a cybercrime racket.
A suo motu case was soon registered under relevant sections of the IT Act, and Mr. Mohanty formed a team led by Savitha Srinivas, Superintendent of Police, Special Cyber Cell.
The team conducted a raid from 9 p.m. on Friday until 11 a.m. on Saturday. “All the accused were hired for high salaries and were trained. We are ascertaining whether they all have an engineering background,” a senior police officer said. “The company has been operating since August this year. All credentials are being verified,” the officer added.
The team has seized all electronic devices in the office and is investigating several key aspects: who runs the company, where the employees were trained, who developed the malicious code, and the exact extent of the scam.
Published – November 15, 2025 11:18 pm IST
