The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated legal action against an individual from Ahmedabad and his unidentified associates. They are accused of perpetrating a technology-driven fraud scheme that targeted US citizens. The suspects allegedly impersonated American federal agents, successfully defrauding over 20 victims of approximately $6 million. This case highlights the growing concern over identity theft and fraud facilitated by advanced technology.
Once the victims called on the numbers sent by the accused, they posed as officials of agencies including the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Attorney’s Office and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The gang members even allegedly sent fake emails and messages posing as government officials. Once the victim purchased the gift cards, she was provided a fake receipt from FTC informing that her money had been safeguarded in Home Depot Gift Cards in a federal locker assigned to Selzar. During investigations, the agency traced the internet activity for these frauds to Ahmedabad.
The accused persons allegedly ran illegal call centres since 2024 and sent pop-up messages to the victims claiming that their computers had been compromised. For instance, a victim Helen Loughlin, 79, of Georgetown, Texas, while working on her computer in January 2024, received a pop-up notification on her screen stating that her computer had been compromised. The accused then said her call was being transferred to Randy Selzar of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who informed her that $4,800 was debited from her bank account for purchasing child pornography in China. She was induced to purchase $4,800 in Home Depot Gift Cards to prevent the money from being removed from her account, the CBI FIR states. She purchased gold worth $96,966.13, $99,205.29, $72,391.29 and $72,811.05 on four occasions between January and February 2024, which was then handed over to a pickup driver. Using the same modus operandi, another victim – Mark Meilke, 68, from Texas, was targeted in February 2024 by this gang, CBI has alleged.
A first information report (FIR) has been filed by CBI naming Ankit Satish Chandra Pandey, a resident of Ahmedabad, and “unknown others” for cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and sections of information technology act. The FIR states: “A reliable information has been received that the accused persons have been running illegal call centres at Ahmedabad since 2024 and targeting US citizens online and subjecting them to tech fraud or identity theft impersonation fraud”. Detailing the modus operandi, CBI said that pop-up messages were sent to the victims claiming their computers had been compromised and asking them to call a number for assistance. “When the victims contacted on the number displayed on their computer screen, the accused communicated with the victims under pseudonymous identities of officers of Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Attorney, Critical Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal agencies, falsely informing the victims that their identities have been used by someone else and child pornography had been accessed from their computers”. Thereafter, CBI says, the victims were induced to purchase gold bars or gift cards by withdrawing funds from their accounts and hand them over to couriers, or provide gift-card numbers and that their assets were being safeguarded by the US government. When she called on the number showing on the screen, she was told that she was talking to a person from Apple Security. CBI adds that Loughlin was later contacted by another person impersonating Alamdar Hamdani, the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, who told her to convert her funds into gold and hand them over to a driver being sent by him. The accused persons, CBI says, issued her a fake Department of Justice letter claiming that the gold had been placed in a federal locker. CBI alleged that “so far, the accused persons have defrauded more than 20 US victims to the tune of $6 millions”.
