“Sir, this is a final warning. Your number has been flagged for illegal telecom usage. Your SIM card will be blocked within two hours unless you cooperate.”
Imagine getting this call — a crisp, official voice, the kind that makes your stomach churn. You glance at your screen.
The number has an Indian code. Looks legit. But what you don’t know is… the voice is being routed through servers in Germany, bounced to a room in Ahmedabad, and the person on the other end has no badge — just a laptop and a plan.
Welcome to one of the most sophisticated VoIP scams in recent years.
How It Worked: The Tech Behind the Con
VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol, lets you make calls over the internet. For most of us, that’s WhatsApp audio or Zoom. But for cybercriminals?
It’s the perfect mask.
In this case, callers from overseas would pretend to be Indian government officials, sometimes from TRAI, sometimes the police.
They’d use fear. Confusion. And spoofed numbers.
Their calls weren’t just fakes — they were calculated traps.
“Sir, your Aadhaar is linked to a number involved in illegal activities. We are tracking this case closely. But if you cooperate now, we may be able to help.”
The goal? Get you scared. Get you to pay. Or worse, gain access to your sensitive data.
Meet the Men Behind the Curtain
Here’s where the plot thickens — this isn’t your usual one-man fraud. This was an organized syndicate run by two masterminds:
- Lovekesh Kumar, a man with a track record of visa scams.
- Anubhav Gupta, aka Anurag Gupta, who spent nearly two decades in telecom.
Both had crossed paths before — in jail, to be precise.
Maybe it started over a cigarette. Maybe a shared story about failed scams. But what’s certain is that when they came out, they joined hands to build something bigger. Something smarter.
They didn’t just con people, they built a company. A full-blown operation under the name Set Square Learning Solution Pvt Ltd. A tech setup in Ahmedabad. Rented servers. International routing. Everything.
The Overseas Link – Enter Cindy Wang
From somewhere in Hong Kong, another name emerges — Cindy Wang. She wasn’t dialing numbers herself, but her companies, QUICK COM and SNOW FLY ONLINE, were deeply entangled in the technical backbone of the operation.
She worked closely with Lovekesh and Anubhav, helping them with VoIP infrastructure, making this scam an international cybercrime racket.
The Crackdown
The Gujarat ATS and Cyber Crime Cell weren’t far behind. Acting on a tip, they raided a data center at Cambay Grand in Ahmedabad.
Hidden among legitimate servers were three being used for illegal VoIP rerouting.
That was the end of the line.
Lovekesh and Anubhav were arrested again, though not before duping countless victims and operating across international lines.
What makes this even more alarming is that both were out on bail for similar crimes. They just picked up where they left off.
Why This Story Matters
Scams today don’t always come in the form of sketchy emails or bad grammar. Some arrive on your phone with the tone of an officer and the urgency of a threat.
The line between real and fake is blurry. Just because a number looks Indian, doesn’t mean it’s from India.
And just because someone says “official notice,” doesn’t make it true.
A Word to the Wise
If someone calls you claiming to be from TRAI, the police, or any authority:
- Hang up. Call the official helpline directly.
- Never share OTPs, Aadhaar, or banking info.
- Don’t let fear make decisions for you.
- Take legal action without delay. Register with us and get end-to-end assistance.
The only defense we have in this high-tech war of trust is awareness.
