The United States Embassy in India on Wednesday said it cancelled about 2,000 visa appointments made by bots, or software applications that simulate human activity online.

“We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies,” the embassy said in a post on X.

It added that it would suspend the scheduling privileges of the accounts concerned.

“We will continue our anti-fraud efforts,” said the embassy. “We have zero tolerance for fraud.”

The development came nearly a month after the Delhi Police Crime Branch booked several visa and passport agents for allegedly fraudulent activities based on a complaint by the US Embassy, ANI reported. Most of the agents allegedly operated from Punjab and Haryana.

The case was filed on February 27 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to cheating and forgery, as well as provisions of the Information Technology Act pertaining to impersonation.

The embassy said in its complaint that the agents were involved in submitting false information in visa applications and giving fake documents to applicants, ANI reported.

“During the period from May to August 2024, our office conducted relevant investigations and compiled a comprehensive list of individuals linked to multiple IP addresses, suspected to be associated with visa consultants, document vendors [educational certificates, bank documents, and employment certificates], passport delivery addresses, and education consultants,” the embassy said in its complaint.

The US Embassy said it named over 30 visa and passport agents, along with passengers who tried to fraudulently obtain visas.