Inside Cambodia's ‘digital arrest' scam: Gurugram cops uncover call centre that mimicked Indian law agencies

Economic Times

2 days ago

It started with a call, followed by a video chat with a man in uniform seated before portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, and Sardar Patel, and ended with an impersonated Enforcement Directorate officer demanding crores. This was the architecture of a cybercrime call centre in Cambodia, part of a cross-border fraud ring recently exposed by Gurgaon police, as per a TOI report. Khushi Chaudhary, 24, from Surat, became the 16th person arrested in a case involving an elaborate digital scam that led to an 81-year-old woman in Gurgaon losing Rs 2.9 crore in December 2024. Police picked up Khushi from Delhi's IGI Airport on June 29 after receiving intelligence about her return from Cambodia, the TOI report stated.
Three rooms, three roles
The syndicate operated from a building called 'Mango Park' in Phnom Penh. The setup had three distinct lines of operation. Line 1 involved entry-level callers like Khushi, who posed as FedEx or law enforcement personnel and contacted victims, warning them about parcels containing contraband or links to terror financing.According to the TOI report, if the victims responded, the call was escalated to Line 2. Here, in a room styled like a typical Indian police office with official portraits on the wall, a man impersonating an ACP from Colaba would speak aggressively over a video call, building pressure.Line 3 involved more experienced scamsters posing as officers from ED or CBI. They quoted legal sections like UAPA, NDPS, FEMA, and IPC, and instructed victims to transfer money into specific accounts under the guise of verifying the funds or settling alleged violations. Victims were kept under what police described as a 'digital arrest' — barred from switching off phones or speaking to anyone.
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Khushi, who once worked as a barista in Surat, was recruited into the scam network through a contact in Dubai. After a stint at a cyber fraud call centre in Ajman, she was taken to Cambodia by a Pakistani recruiter in August 2024. Her initial role was in Line 1, making up to 40 calls per hour. On average, 3-4 victims would fall for the scam each day, police said.She later graduated to the role of a 'merchant,' responsible for routing money from victims into mule accounts across India and converting it into cryptocurrency within minutes. Her handlers, two Chinese nationals known as 'Lion' and 'Panda,' paid her a monthly salary of \$700 and performance-based incentives.Scamsters were rewarded with promotions, access to higher-ups, and weekend parties at luxury villas. 'The more victims one trapped, the faster one climbed the ladder,' said a Gurgaon police officer.
The investigation
In the Gurgaon case, police have arrested 15 others so far, many of them linked to the bank accounts used to launder funds. Charges have been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 318(4) for cheating, 336(3) for forgery, 348 for possession of instruments used in counterfeiting, and 340 for forged documents. The police described the scam operation as a well-oiled machine with a global footprint and financial routes that ultimately disappear into digital wallets.
(With inputs from TOI)