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Bengaluru gang posed as Microsoft support, stole millions from Americans
17 Nov 2025

The Bengaluru police have busted a major cybercrime racket that duped unsuspecting US citizens by posing as Microsoft's technical support team.

The gang is said to have used fake security alerts and fictitious Federal Trade Commission (FTC) violation warnings to extort money from their victims.

The operation was carried out by Musk Communications, which rented an office space in August at the Sigma Soft Tech Park in Whitefield.

Police raid leads to seizure of digital devices
Raid details

Acting on a tip-off, the Cyber Command's special cell and Whitefield division officers raided Musk Communications's office.

The operation was conducted over Friday and Saturday with a search warrant issued by the court.

During the raid, police seized computers, laptops, hard disks, mobile phones among other digital devices believed to have been used in the crime.

All 21 staff members present at that time were arrested and produced before court which remanded them into police custody.

Gang's modus operandi and payment methods
Scam strategy

The gang is said to have used malicious Facebook ads specifically targeting US users.

These ads contained embedded code disguised as legitimate Microsoft alerts.

Clicking on the ad would freeze the computer and trigger a fake Microsoft technical support pop-up with a bogus helpline number.

Once victims called this number, fraudsters posing as Microsoft technicians would claim their system had been hacked, compromising their IP address and banking information.

Victims coerced into paying large sums
Payment coercion

The fraudsters intensified fear by citing non-existent FTC violations and coerced users into paying large amounts for fake security fixes and compliance procedures.

The money was routed through cryptocurrency, making it difficult to trace.

Police are now expanding their investigation to identify more people linked to this network and track the financial trails across jurisdictions.