Fake call centre cheating US citizens raided in city STPI

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The MIDC Cidco Police have busted an international call center that was involved in online fraud targeting U.S citizens by threatening them and extorting money. The raid took place at 1.20 am on Monday, and 117 people, including one minor, were arrested. The accused are from Gujarat, West Bengal, and northeastern states. Police also seized property and equipment worth crores of rupees, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Prashant Swami.

According to senior police inspector (PI) Geeta Bagwade, the call center was operating illegally in a four-storey building named Connect Enterprises in T-7 STPI-1. The main accused, Bhavesh Prakash Chaudhary, Bhavik Shivdev Patel, Satish Shankar Lade, Walay Parag Vyas, Abdul Farooq Mukadam Shah alias Farooqui, and John, had started the illegal call center, about a year ago.

From this center, they sent fake messages via phone calls, emails, and SMS to U.S citizens, falsely claiming that they had not paid their taxes. These messages included instructions to contact specific phone numbers.

When victims called those numbers, their calls were diverted to the call center in India, where employees spoke to them in English and tried to convince them to settle their supposed tax issues. The first operator would later transfer the call to a ‘closer,’ who would finalise the deal.

After convincing victims, the scammers forced them to buy Amazon gift cards, Apple iTunes cards, Zelle, Western Union, and other payment cards. The victims were told to share the codes of those cards. Once they received the codes, the fraudsters converted the card money into U.S dollars and then into cryptocurrency, which was later converted into Indian rupees through hawala (illegal money transfer) channels.

Based on a complaint filed by assistant police inspector Bharat Pachole, a case has been registered against all 117 accused, including the five main culprits. The arrested individuals were taken for medical examination and later presented before the District Court late at night.