2025-12-10 (incident) · IN
Operation Chakra: CBI and FBI raid a Noida scam call centre, 2025
Allegations only; no charges or findings are recorded here.
In December 2025 India's Central Bureau of Investigation, working with the FBI, raided an illegal call centre in Noida and arrested six people in an operation codenamed Operation Chakra. The FBI says the network targeted more than 600 US citizens with tech support scams and by impersonating US agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Social Security Administration, and that victim reports to IC3 attributed more than $48.7 million in losses to it. The CBI alleges the accused posed as officials of the DEA, the FBI and the SSA, threatened that victims' assets would be frozen, and directed them to move money to crypto wallets and foreign bank accounts.
$48.7M (estimate; Losses that victims reported to IC3 and the FBI attributed to the network (more than $48.7 million). India's CBI put the amount defrauded at about $8.5 million. Neither figure is a court finding.)
Timeline
- 2025-12-09 The CBI registers a case.
- 2025-12-10 Over 10 and 11 December the CBI searches locations in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, arrests six people and recovers Rs 1.88 crore in cash and 34 electronic devices; the FBI says the operation raided an illegal call centre.
Lessons
- Government agencies do not phone to threaten to freeze your assets or tell you to move money to crypto wallets; hang up and call the agency on its published number.
- Never give remote access to your computer to someone who contacted you about a problem you did not report.
- Report losses to IC3 even when they seem small: the FBI says IC3 reports encouraged the CBI to pursue this call centre.
Scam types: Tax agency and benefits impersonation, Tech support pop-up scam · Techniques: Voice phishing (vishing)
Sources
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: 2025 Internet Crime Report (Positive Impacts: Operation Chakra) (Law enforcement, primary, accessed 2026-09-24)
- The Tribune: CBI busts transnational cybercrime racket in Noida with FBI help, US Embassy hails US-India partnership (News report, secondary, accessed 2026-09-24)