The sprawling 4,500-square-foot office of Musk Communications in Bengaluru’s Whitefield community appeared legitimate, complete with employees logging regular hours and handling customer calls. But behind the façade lay a sophisticated operation of a crypto scam office, which drained millions of dollars from people living in America.
On November 15–16, Bengaluru’s Cyber Command Unit arrested 21 individuals during a raid after receiving credible intelligence. The operation, conducted by special cell teams alongside cyber crime sleuths, seized computers, laptops, hard disks, and mobile phones from the premises.
Digital Extortion Through Fear
Investigators discovered the syndicate deployed online advertisements containing malicious code that froze victims’ computers, displaying fake Microsoft Global Technical Support alerts. Scammers then posed as technical experts, claiming that the victims’ IP addresses and banking data had been compromised, and then fabricated Federal Trade Commission violations to pressure targets into giving cryptocurrency payments.
Director General Pronab Mohanty of the Cyber Command Unit revealed that initial evidence points to losses reaching millions of dollars across various cryptocurrencies. Police claim that more than 500-1,000 U.S.-based people fell prey to the scheme.
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Follow the Money Trail
Authorities established that Musk Communications secured the expensive office space in August 2025, paying monthly rent running into lakhs of rupees. Investigators now scrutinize rental agreements, payment records, and the property owner’s potential involvement while the company’s owner remains absconding. The court remanded all 21 arrested employees to police custody as authorities work to trace the full extent of cryptocurrency flows and identify additional network members responsible for the scam.
