New Delhi, 25 September (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested key accused Ankit Satishchandra Pandey in an international cyber fraud case targeting US citizens. According to the CBI, more than $7.21 million was defrauded from American citizens through an illegal call centre operated from Ahmedabad.

The CBI registered a case on September 8 against the accused and other unidentified persons. According to the investigating agency, a syndicate involved in large-scale international cyber financial fraud had been operating through an illegal call centre in Ahmedabad since 2024.

According to the CBI, the accused, acting as part of a criminal conspiracy, contacted victims while posing as officials of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Attorney’s Office, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal agencies. Using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the accused told American citizens that their computer systems had allegedly been used by another person to access child sexual abuse material.

The accused then allegedly instructed the victims to withdraw money from their bank accounts, purchase gold and hand it over to courier personnel sent by the fraudsters in the United States. According to the CBI, more than $7.21 million was defrauded from victims through this modus operandi.

After registering the case, the CBI conducted extensive searches at several locations linked to the accused in Ahmedabad. During the searches, electronic devices containing digital evidence were seized.

According to the CBI, Ankit Satishchandra Pandey, who allegedly played a key role in setting up and operating the illegal call centre, was arrested on September 23. The investigation in the case is continuing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar