Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate arrested alleged Fake US call centre kingpin Vikas Kumar Nimar, alias Misty, on Monday, July 27. The agency accused him of overseeing operations that targeted American citizens from several Indian cities.
The accused allegedly ran cybercrime call centres in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Lucknow and other locations. Operators reportedly posed as technical support staff and persuaded victims to transfer money.
Officials produced Nimar before a court after his arrest. The court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody.
The ED opened a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The probe stemmed from a First Information Report registered at Madhapur Police Station.
Investigators alleged that Nimar operated the call centres under the name VC Solutions. An examination of its bank accounts reportedly showed substantial cash deposits.
Nimar admitted that the money came from call centre operations, according to the source report. However, the firm declared the funds as income from grocery trading and other claimed businesses.
The investigation reportedly found no matching legitimate commercial activity. Officials said the declared businesses did not correspond with the volume of transactions in the accounts.
Fake US call centre network used gift cards and cryptocurrency
The ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report in 2023. It alleged that an organised Fake US call centre network had targeted foreign nationals, particularly US citizens.
Members of the syndicate allegedly impersonated government officials and representatives of reputed private companies. They then induced victims to make payments through gift cards and other digital methods.
Investigators found that the network first collected the proceeds through gift cards. Operators later converted those funds into cryptocurrency.
The syndicate then exchanged the cryptocurrency for Indian currency through crypto platforms, informal cash settlements and banking channels. Afterwards, it allegedly distributed the money among operators, controllers and other beneficiaries.
According to the ED, the cybercrime network obtained customer information belonging to US citizens through specialised call vendors. It then sent deceptive emails to potential victims.
Those messages reportedly contained malware alerts, false virus warnings and fraudulent technical-support notices. The emails encouraged recipients to call toll-free numbers controlled by the network.
Once victims called those numbers, the network routed their calls to the fraudulent centres. Operators then allegedly posed as support representatives and pressured them to make payments.
The Fake US call centre investigation examined how the accused collected, converted and distributed the suspected crime proceeds. It also focused on the people who managed the centres and benefited from the operation.
Fake US call centre probe followed Ahmedabad searches
In February 2026, the ED’s Hyderabad Zonal Office conducted searches at six locations in Ahmedabad. Those searches formed part of another money laundering investigation involving alleged fraud against US citizens.
In that case, the accused allegedly posed as American government officials. The Hyderabad ED team traced cryptocurrency worth $12,000 from prime accused Aqib Ghulam Rasool Ghanchi.
Officials transferred the recovered cryptocurrency to the ED’s official crypto wallet. They also seized ₹13.5 lakh in cash during the searches.
In addition, the agency recovered crucial digital evidence. It froze 31 bank accounts and one bank locker linked to the investigation.
The latest arrest expanded the agency’s action against suspected call centre fraud networks operating across India. The Fake US call centre case remained focused on the alleged laundering of money obtained from foreign victims.
The ED continued to examine the banking trail, digital transactions and cryptocurrency conversions connected to the syndicate. It also investigated the roles of operators, controllers and beneficiaries across multiple cities.