Fake Apple centre in Gurgaon ‘shortlisted’ elderly in US, scared them into paying up to $20k
Police in Gurgaon have dismantled a fraudulent call center that targeted elderly US citizens by impersonating Apple support staff. The scammers used fake FTC notices to extort between $10,000 and $20,000 from victims.
Why it matters
This highlights the increasing sophistication of international cyber-fraud operations targeting vulnerable populations through social engineering.
GURGAON: The sham Apple service centre busted in Palam Vihar on Sept 1 did not wait for victims to call. Its operator first screened targets in the US, checked whether they were above 60 and had substantial bank balances, and sent warning messages about privacy, virus or technical problems in their iPhones.The elderly victims, with little technical knowhow, were then funnelled into calls where impersonators invoked a bogus Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notice and demanded $10,000 to $20,000 to fix the issues — amounts far exceeding the price of a brand new iPhone.The operation allegedly began with messages routed through a server controlled by Jai Kakkar, a Delhi resident who police have identified as its operator.The messages directed recipients to a toll-free number connected to the Palam Vihar call centre.
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