Cyber Fraud Racket Posing as US Firm Intuit Busted in Bengaluru, Two Arrested

The Karnataka State Cyber Command has busted a fake call centre racket operating from Bengaluru that allegedly impersonated US-based accounting software firm Intuit to defraud citizens in the United States, police said on Thursday.

Two men, Prashanth from Delhi and Akash from Uttar Pradesh , have been arrested in connection with the case. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, cybercrime officials conducted coordinated searches at four locations in Bengaluru , where the illegal call centres were reportedly functioning.

According to investigators, the accused posed as representatives of Intuit QuickBooks and targeted US citizens by offering fake tax assistance, counterfeit software licences, and renewal services . Victims were allegedly tricked into paying fees for services that did not exist.

Police said the call centre staff used fabricated identities resembling US officials to gain the trust of victims and carry out the fraud. “For these spurious services, they fraudulently collected huge sums as fees,” Director General of Police (Cyber Command) Pronab Mohanty said in a statement.

During the searches, authorities seized a large cache of electronic equipment and incriminating material, including 44 solid-state drives, two laptops, two mobile phones, nine CPUs , and scripted conversation guides allegedly used to interact with victims.

Investigators also found that the accused had created a company named “Circle Square LLC” and allegedly used shell entities to route and siphon off funds obtained through the fraud.

Police further said the investigation is ongoing to trace the money trail , identify bank accounts involved, and determine the extent of laundering and cross-border financial transfers linked to the operation.