The FBI Baltimore Field Office, Montgomery County Police Department, and Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office announced the results of a joint investigation targeting large-scale fraud schemes involving government impersonation and tech support scams that victimized Maryland residents and hundreds of people nationwide.
Through coordinated investigative efforts, law enforcement traced scams reported by Montgomery County victims to extensive international call center operations in India that had been targeting Americans since 2022. Those operations were dismantled by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in December 2025, leading to the arrest of six Indian nationals identified as leaders of the criminal syndicates.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, approximately 660 victims across the United States reported losses connected to these scam networks since 2022, totaling $48,778,230. In Maryland, nearly two dozen complaints were filed, with reported financial losses reaching $6,257,869.
In Montgomery County, police have arrested eight individuals since 2024 on charges related to government impersonation and tech support scams. The State’s Attorney’s Office has secured six convictions so far, and investigators have linked three of those defendants to the international scam call centers in India.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said the county has taken a leadership role in combating these crimes, particularly those targeting seniors. He noted that victims often lose their life savings and emphasized the importance of both enforcement and public education. McCarthy urged residents to remain vigilant and skeptical of unsolicited pop-up ads, text messages, or phone calls demanding urgent action or payment.
Authorities stressed that law enforcement and government agencies will never call or email private citizens to demand payment or threaten arrest. They will not ask individuals to hand over money for “safekeeping,” assist in catching a criminal, or request payment through wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or gold bars.
Residents are encouraged to avoid answering calls from unknown numbers, never send money to people they do not personally know and trust, and never share personal information such as Social Security numbers with unknown individuals. Anyone who believes they may be a victim and has suffered a financial loss is urged to report the incident to local law enforcement and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
