Conspirator in US guilty in India-based tech support scam

New York, March 21
A $3 million India-based tech support scam that defrauded hundreds of Americans and dented India's reputation has been busted with a conspirator in the scheme admitting his role in court, according to US officials.

Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said on Wednesday that Bishap Mittal, 24, admitted his guilt in the tech scam conspiracy before Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer of the federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina state.

The Department of Justice said in a statement that Mittal along with a person identified only as "Individial 1" - who owned a limited liability company called Capstone Technologies - and others used a call centre in India for the scam that used pop-up ads that would suddenly appear on the victims' computers and freeze the screens.

The pop-ups would ask the victims to contact Capstone Technologies at a number shown on the ad, which would be answered by tech support based in India, according to the state