Cyberabad SOT busts international fake call centre targeting Australians; nine arrested in Madhapur
HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT), Balanagar, along with the Cyber Crime Police, on November 29, 2025, busted an international fake call centre operating from Ayyappa Society in Madhapur and arrested nine people for allegedly defrauding Australian citizens. Police seized 12 computers, 21 mobile phones, two routers, a Thar vehicle, three stamps and the passport of one accused.
Call centre targeted Australian citizens
According to investigators, cousins Praveen and Prakash from Khammam district set up the fake call centre ,operating under the name Ridge IT Solutions in 2024. They brought seven people from Kolkata to Hyderabad, housed them in Madhapur and trained them to make fraudulent calls to Australian nationals.
Police said the callers contacted victims after fake pop-ups or emails warned them that their computers had been compromised. The messages carried a “customer care” number, which redirected calls through the X-Lite application to the Madhapur office.
Accused took remote access to siphon off money
Once victims called, the accused allegedly convinced them to grant remote access to their computers through the AnyDesk application. They then accessed victims’ online banking accounts and transferred large sums to Australian bank accounts owned by Indian nationals living in Australia.
Investigators said the team procured these bank accounts from Indian students abroad. Over two years, the group allegedly diverted between ₹8 crore and ₹10 crore. The money was later brought to India using hawala networks, cryptocurrency transfers and other covert channels.
During the raid, police recovered details of 45 Australian bank accounts from a mobile phone used in the call centre. Officials suspect the gang may have illegally obtained and used “hundreds” of such accounts.
Operational roles and accused list
Police said Praveen and Prakash handled the overall operation, while Yepuri Ganesh and Marampudu Chenna Keshava also from Khammam district managed daily office activity and coordinated accommodation and movement of staff from Kolkata.
Arrested persons:
Yepuri Ganesh, 30, Lingala village, Kalluru mandal, Khammam
Marampudu Chenna Keshava, 26, Lingapal village, Vemsor mandal, Khammam
Moumita Mondal, 27, Kolkata
Ejaz Ahmed, 42, Odisha
Sambit Roy, 27, Kolkata
Shanick Banerjee, 24, Kolkata
Moumita Mallick, 33, Kolkata
Shilpi Samadder, 33, Kolkata
Kunal Singh, 37, Kolkata
Police said additional suspects are yet to be apprehended.
Police advisory to students and NRI families
Cyberabad Police urged NRI students and parents not to share or sell their international bank accounts, warning that such accounts are frequently misused for cyber fraud and money laundering and can attract serious legal consequences.
Citizens have been advised to report cyber fraud, suspicious financial activity or information on fake call centres by dialling 1930 or through the Cyberabad WhatsApp number 94906 17444. Officials assured that informants’ identities would be kept confidential.
The operation was supervised by YVS Sudheendhra, DCP (Special Branch) and in-charge Cybercrimes, P. Shobhan Kumar, DCP SOT (Madhapur), and A. Vishwa Prasad, Additional DCP SOT (Medchal). Shiva Kumar, Inspector (SOT Balanagar), and Shiva Prasad, Inspector (Cyber Crimes), led the teams on ground.
