Fake call centre: City unit only lured foreign nationals; Money extorted from other states

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The bogus call centre operating from Chikalthana was responsible only for trapping foreign nationals through fake gift card schemes. Once card details were obtained, the actual financial fraud was carried out from call centres based in other states. The city unit’s role was limited to sending pop-up messages and drawing victims into the trap when they responded to calls, police sources said. So far, the investigating team has not been able to trace the foreign victims, which may slow down the probe.

On October 29, senior police inspector Geeta Bagwade raided the call centre set up in the IT Park under a fake company name. The racket defrauded foreign citizens of crores by luring them into buying gift cards. The prime mastermind, Rajveer Verma from Ahmedabad, along with Abdul Farukh Mukadam Shah alias Faruqui, who handled local finances, and five others Bhavesh Chaudhary, Bhavik Patel, Satish Lade, Valay Vyas (all from Ahmedabad), Ajay Thakur, and Manvardhan Rathod were arrested. Except for Rajveer and Farukh, the police custody of all accused ended on Thursday. They were produced before the court by PSI Amol Mhaske and were remanded to judicial custody.

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Nationwide call centre network revealed

Interrogation of the eight accused revealed a nationwide racket supplying data of foreign nationals to such call centres. The data was allegedly purchased from employees of banks and finance firms and then provided to these gangs. Victims received fake pop-up or flash messages about gift cards; some of these calls were diverted to the Chikalthana centre, where employees, following a fixed script, extracted personal details. Once victims were trapped, the responsibility of extorting money shifted to another call centre.

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‘I never met John,’ claims Rajveer

Funds were allegedly supplied in cash through an ID named “John” and handled by Rajveer via Farukh. However, Rajveer has refused to reveal John’s identity to the police, claiming he only communicated with him through calls and messages. His custody is due to end in two days. Sources said Rajveer’s family has hired lawyers from Gujarat and stationed themselves in the city.

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No information from foreign authorities

Investigating agencies had earlier claimed that details of the cheated foreign nationals would be shared with the Director General of Police’s office, but no such information has been received so far. Moreover, crucial technical verification such as IP address tracing through experts in Pune and Mumbai has yet to progress, raising concerns that the investigation may lose momentum.