A man from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli has been accused of running a Microsoft tech support scam from his apartment after an online vigilante turned the tables on him.
The allegations surfaced when a user on X, who goes by the handle NanoBaiter, claimed to have hacked into the accused’s laptop and captured his reaction via webcam.
“Meet an Indian scammer who impersonates Microsoft support and then rips off innocent, vulnerable people. He tried to scam me, but instead of paying him money, I hacked into his laptop and turned on his live webcam feed,” NanoBaiter wrote on X on Wednesday.
The operation reportedly begins with a fake pop-up warning that locks a user’s screen and plays loud alarms, prompting them to call a helpline.
Once connected, scammers use remote access tools such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer to gain control of the victim’s system.
“It starts with a fake pop-up that locks your screen, blares a loud warning sound, and tells you to call Microsoft immediately or risk losing all your data. The scammer's main goal? To trick you into giving them remote access to your computer using tools like AnyDesk or TeamViewer,” NanoBaiter explained.
According to the posts, NanoBaiter countered the attempt using a virtual machine, hacked into Trivedi’s laptop, and gained access to his webcam feed. He shared images and videos of the man at home, allegedly running the scam.
The vigilante also claimed to have identified Trivedi’s name from a softphone dialler and tracked his location to an apartment complex in Raebareli through his Wi-Fi card.
NanoBaiter wrote that he monitored Trivedi’s activities in real time, observing him “eat, sleep, and scam people” before confronting him online.
The evidence was posted publicly, along with a call for police action. Tagging the Raebareli Police, the user demanded an investigation.
In response, the police acknowledged the complaint on X: “The officer in charge of the cyber police station has been directed to investigate and take necessary action,” reported NDTV.
The unusual episode sparked reactions online. One user commented, “Hackers hacking scammers is probably the best and most satisfying of any content online. Good stuff.”
Another wrote, “Love it when the uno reverse card gets played.” A third added, “Too kind...thank you! Just trying to destroy and expose some scammers.”