PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 24 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Allahabad Sub-Zonal Office, has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 3.72 crore in connection with an international cyber fraud and money laundering case. The attached properties include a plot and a flat in Kolkata, bank deposits and insurance policies. The attachment has been made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The action is based on an FIR and chargesheet filed by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Gorakhpur, against Anik Dutta, Akash Gupta, Aditya Kumar Mishra and others. According to a communique issued by the ED office, the accused allegedly operated fraudulent call centres through Glowbird Consultancy Pvt Ltd in Ranchi and later Jubilate Info Pvt Ltd in Gorakhpur. Employees were reportedly trained to target UK citizens, especially elderly people, by posing as representatives of telecom company BT Openreach and using fake foreign identities. The fraudsters allegedly convinced victims that their internet speed could be improved and asked them to download remote-access applications such as AnyDesk and Quick Assist. Once access to the victims' devices was obtained, they allegedly collected banking information and personal details. Investigators found that victims were later falsely told that their computers had been hit by cyberattacks and that cases had been registered with the UK's Action Fraud agency. Posing as Action Fraud officials, senior members of the racket allegedly persuaded victims to transfer money into accounts controlled by the accused. The ED communique mentions that the proceeds of crime were subsequently moved to India, Bangladesh and Thailand through international money transfer services, including Western Union and MoneyGram, as well as hawala channels. htc...