ED cracks down on tech support scam; searches done at 15 locations

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out search operations at 15 premises located in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Haryana and Mumbai in connection with a tech support scam, officials said.

The investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was launched following multiple FIRs registered by Delhi Police against Karan Verma and others.

According to the agency, the accused were operating several illegal call centres based in Rohini, Paschim Vihar and Rajouri Garden in Delhi. These centres were used to defraud unsuspecting foreign nationals in the United States by posing as customer support representatives of reputed companies.

The scammers reportedly employed a method involving the so-called “Blue Screen of Death” — a deceptive pop-up window designed to imitate the authentic Windows error screen. Victims were prompted to call a fake helpline number to resolve the fictitious technical problem.

Once contact was established, the victims were persuaded to pay significant sums of money for bogus technical assistance.

To launder the proceeds, the fraudsters converted the funds into cryptocurrencies and gift cards, which were then transferred back to India to the accused and their associates.

Investigators revealed the crypto wallets linked to the scam contained transactions amounting to millions of US dollars.

During the search operation, the ED also uncovered and raided another illegal call centre in Delhi, which was similarly engaged in defrauding foreign nationals under the guise of providing technical support.