Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 8: In a significant breakthrough under Operation Chakra-V, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Nishant Walia, a Noida-based cybercrime operative, for allegedly running an international tech support scam that targeted citizens in the UK and Australia.
Walia, a partner at FirstIdea, was apprehended on Monday following an extensive probe involving coordinated efforts with global agencies including the FBI, UK’s National Crime Agency, and Microsoft Corporation. He was produced in a special CBI court on Tuesday, where the agency sought custody for further interrogation.
According to officials, the accused ran a fraudulent call centre out of the Noida Special Economic Zone, posing as tech support agents of multinational firms such as Microsoft. The scam involved convincing foreign victims that their computers were infected, and then extorting money by offering fake solutions to non-existent problems.
During raids at three Noida locations, the CBI discovered ongoing scam calls, exposing the call centre’s operations that were meticulously aligned with victim time zones overseas.
Searches led to the seizure of:
• Advanced calling systems,
• Fake technical support scripts,
• Internal documents showing the scale of international fraud and monetary extortion.
The CBI highlighted that the setup was technologically advanced, designed to ensure anonymity while targeting victims at scale across borders.
Officials reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to tackling cybercrime through international cooperation and sustained crackdowns on such syndicates. Under initiatives like Operation Chakra-V, the CBI aims to enhance its global cybercrime investigation footprint and ensure accountability for perpetrators of digital fraud.