NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USA, has successfully dismantled a sophisticated virtual asset supported cyber-crime network that has been targeting US nationals since 2022 and recovered Rs 1.88 crore along with nearly three dozen electronic devices and intercepted six persons engaged in these criminal activities, the agency said on Friday.
During the period 2022-2025, the accused individuals operating under pseudonymous identities of US Government officials from Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), FBI and Social Security Administration (SSA), conspired to target US victims by threatening them that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries and that all of their assets would be freezed.
Claiming that their funds were at risk, the accused persons manipulated the victims into transferring USD 8.5 million to cryptocurrency wallets and foreign bank accounts controlled by them.
According to the CBI, it registered the case on December 9, 2025 and launched an investigation.