Bengaluru city police busts cybercrime network providing fake legal services online

BENGALURU: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bangalore City Police Department and the Cyber Crime Police Station have successfully busted a large cybercrime network that was providing fake online legal services to citizens who were victims of cyber fraud.

The operation was launched on February 12, 2025, at the Ramamurthy Nagar Police Station based on a complaint lodged through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. In the complaint, it was alleged that the complainant was cheated of Rs 1.5 crore by being lured into installing a solar plant.

While searching online for legal help to recover this money, the victim discovered a website called “Quickmoto Legal Service”. From there, several telecallers who are self-proclaimed representatives contacted and promised to provide legal services. Believing his words, Piyaddar transferred 12.5 lakhs in stages. But this company itself was fake.

The case was transferred to the CCB, Cyber Crime Station and investigated. A special team was formed under the leadership of Mr. Ajay Hillori, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). During the investigation, it came to light that the company “quickmoto legal” was not present at the address. Further investigation revealed a call centre operating under the name “India Legal Service” in Kasthurinagar, Bangalore.

In the preliminary investigation of the call, it was found that several tele callers were employed and the cyber fraud victims were being called using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based application called Zoiper-5. A man who played an important role in the centre was arrested. During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused’s brother, who was based in Dubai, had set up several fake companies and built a casual network for online fraud. He set up a fake company called “India Legal” in Kasthurinagar, where he hired 12 telecallers and cheated the cyber victims by promising to refund their money.

The prime accused in the case was produced before the court and remanded in 7-day police custody.

During the search conducted at 7 call centres, 10 computer hard disks, seals of fake companies, lease agreements, check books, and other documents were seized. Additionally, one mobile phone, 1 CPU, 11 Vodafone SIM cards, and SIP trunk server system data items were seized.

It is confirmed that this organisation is involved in illegal financial transactions worth crores of rupees. More than 29 cases across India have been registered against this network on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

An investigation is underway to identify and trace more individuals involved in this network. Under the leadership of Mr. Raja Imam Qasim, DCP-2, Crime Branch, with the technical assistance of the Department of Telecommunications and in collaboration with Tata Teleservices, the accused were tracked down and arrested.

This comprehensive operation was planned by Bangalore City Police Commissioner Mr. Seemanth Kumar Singh, IPS, under the command of Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mr. Ajay Hilori and under the supervision of DCP Crime-2 Mr. Raja Imam Kasim. The team consisted of Mr. Santosh Ram, Mr. Umesh Kumar, PSI Kuber, PSI Ashwini, ASI Shanthakumar, Vanraj, Naveen, Sridevi and technical experts Sunil and Kiran Teli. (ANI)