CBI arrests key accused behind Ahmedabad call centres that took $7.21 million from Americans

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Callers posing as US federal officials told victims their identity had been used for child sexual abuse material, then had them buy gold and hand it to couriers. The CBI says losses exceed US$7.21 million.

01 / What happened

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on 25 September 2026 that it had arrested the key accused in a transnational fraud run from illegal call centres in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. According to the agency, the syndicate had been operating since 2024 and targeted people in the United States, who lost more than US$7.21 million.

The CBI registered the case on 8 September. It then searched locations in Ahmedabad linked to the accused and seized electronic devices holding digital evidence. The man it describes as instrumental in setting up and running the call centre was arrested on 23 September. The CBI says the investigation is continuing.

02 / How the script worked

The CBI's account of the method is specific. Callers impersonated officers of the US Federal Trade Commission, the US Attorney's office, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other federal agencies, and reached victims over internet (VoIP) calls. They told each victim that someone had used their identity to access child sexual abuse material through their computer.

Frightened victims were then persuaded to withdraw money from their bank accounts, buy gold, and hand the gold to couriers the gang had engaged in the United States. Gold is harder to trace and recall than a bank transfer, which is why these operations prefer it.

03 / Why it matters in India

Call centres that defraud foreigners and the scams aimed at Indians run on the same machinery: impersonation of an authority, a manufactured crime, isolation of the victim and pressure to act at once. The CBI has spent 2026 pursuing both, including its Operation Chakra-VI action against digital arrest money trails. Cases like this one also depend on cross-border cooperation, because the victims, the couriers and the evidence sit in different countries.

04 / Confirmed vs. claimed

Confirmed by the CBI: the case registration date, the impersonation of US agencies over VoIP, the gold-and-courier method, losses of more than US$7.21 million, the searches and seized devices, and the arrest on 23 September. Reported by media, not in the CBI release: the name of the arrested man and a rupee figure for the losses. We have not repeated either. The accused has not been convicted; the case is under investigation.

05 / What to do

• No government agency, Indian or foreign, asks you to buy gold, gift cards or crypto, or to hand cash to a courier, to clear your name.
• Hang up on any call that says your identity was used in a crime and that you must pay or stay silent. Call the agency back on a number you look up yourself.
• If you are in India and lost money, call 1930 and file at cybercrime.gov.in. How to report cyber fraud.
• If a job offer involves calling people abroad from a script about their bank or their computer, refuse it: working in such a centre is a crime.