Fake tax help, bogus licence renewals: How fake Bengaluru call centres targeted US citizens

“Further investigation is underway and more arrests are likely,” he added.

Cyber Command officers said their initial findings revealed financial transactions exceeding Rs 40 crore in the last few months alone.

Investigators said the accused posed as representatives of QuickBooks, a reputed US-based accounting company, and allegedly duped American citizens by offering fake tax assistance, licence renewal services, and counterfeit software licence keys.

Sources said the police wrote to QuickBooks asking whether they have any customer service here in Bengaluru, and they replied that they don’t.

The accused operated the fraudulent call centres for nearly two years, with some workers reportedly aware of the illegal activities being carried out from the facilities, officers said.

Victims were allegedly cheated into paying large sums of money in the guise of service charges. According to investigators, the accused floated a company named “Circle Square LLC” and used multiple shell companies to siphon off money obtained from US citizens.

The police said the call centre employees used fake identities resembling those of US officials to gain victims’ confidence and execute the fraud.

According to police sources, nearly 120 employees worked at each of the four offices operated by the fake call centre network in Bengaluru. The accused provided salaries and accommodation to these employees.

Investigators suspect the operation functioned in a structured manner, with separate teams handling different aspects of the fraud. Sources added that technical operations, including data management and backend support, were allegedly handled by a separate team in a separate office.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs, officials attached to the Cyber Crime Police Station (South East), along with the Special Cyber Cell, conducted coordinated raids at four locations across the city where the illegal call centres were functioning. They raided four offices linked to the operation — two in Koramangala and one each in HSR Layout and Choodasandra. The premises have been seized for further investigation.

During the raids, police seized 44 SSDs, two mobile phones, two laptops, nine CPUs, pre-written scripts allegedly used to communicate with victims, and several other electronic devices used in the operation.

Officers said the Karnataka State Cyber Command will coordinate with US authorities through Interpol as part of the ongoing investigation.