Delhi Police Special Cell busts major cybercrime syndicate, 18 arrested

A major cybercrime syndicate involving data thieves and fraudsters who converted stolen money into cryptocurrency has been dismantled by the Delhi Police Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit, an official said on Saturday.

According to the police, the entire cybercrime chain — comprising fake callers, SIM card suppliers, insider data providers, travel agents, and the kingpins themselves — was tracked, exposed, and arrested in a highly coordinated six-month-long operation.

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In total, 18 individuals, including the masterminds, have been arrested. Police also recovered 52 mobile phones and multiple SIM cards used in the financial crimes.

The network, operating primarily from Delhi’s Kakrola and Uttam Nagar areas, allegedly targeted State Bank of India (SBI) credit card holders nationwide, siphoning off crores of rupees through a calculated mix of social engineering, insider collusion, and high-speed laundering via cash and cryptocurrency, DCP (IFSO) Vinit Kumar said.

So far, the syndicate has duped victims across several states, causing cumulative losses estimated at around ₹2.6 crore.

The investigation stems from an FIR registered in connection with a call centre in Kakrola, Dwarka, which turned out to be part of a highly organized cybercrime syndicate operating from Delhi.

Probes revealed that syndicate members allegedly impersonated SBI customer care executives to deceitfully obtain One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and Card Verification Values (CVVs) from unsuspecting victims.

The stolen credentials were then used to purchase electronic gift cards from multiple platforms, including travel booking sites. These gift cards were subsequently redeemed to buy domestic air tickets.

Further investigations found that the accused systematically procured confidential customer data from unauthorized sources, later identified as insiders within authorized call centers providing Card Protection Plan (CPP) services.

Armed with this pre-verified information, the accused assumed false identities as SBI customer care executives and initiated unsolicited calls to targeted customers.

The gift cards purchased through fraud were sold in bulk to travel agents and middlemen, who used them primarily to buy domestic flight tickets. In exchange, these intermediaries provided the syndicate with either cash or cryptocurrency in the form of USDT (Tether), thereby converting the fraudulently acquired value into untraceable assets.

The IFSO probe has also raised grave concerns, uncovering that sensitive data had allegedly been leaked by employees of key call centers in Gurugram.

According to investigators, some of the accused, employed in these call centers since 2019, had been systematically infiltrating and leaking company data for years.

This revelation raises serious questions about how companies handle customer data and the robustness of their security protocols.