Fake call centre operating for last one year

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The police during investigation learnt that the fake call centre, operating under the name K S Enterprises, had been running illegally for about a year. It was located in a four-storey building, with operations taking place in two halls on the ground floor and one hall on the second floor. The owner of the building lived on the top floor and had reportedly visited the lower floors several times to inquire about the activities there. The windows were covered with black curtains to prevent anyone from seeing inside.

Because the scam targeted U.S. citizens, the employees worked according to American time zones, meaning the call centre used to be operated all night in India.

Employee Incentives: ₹3 per dollar scammed

Employees at the fake call centre were paid a monthly salary of ₹25,000 to ₹30,000. In addition, for every U.S. dollar successfully scammed, they received an incentive of ₹3. Generally, each U.S. citizen was defrauded of $2,000 to $3,000, meaning an employee earned ₹6,000 to ₹9,000 per scam—often more than their regular salary. This motivated workers to put in extra effort and even work overtime to earn higher incentives.

Youth from across India recruited

The operation had recruited young people from across India to work at the centre. While the main accused were from Gujarat, others came from West Bengal, Assam, Telangana, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Mumbai, Manipur, Karnataka, etc.

Each group of recruits had specific roles assigned within the scam operation, data handling, voice calls, or transaction management, making the network a coordinated nationwide racket.

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Division of Work: Gujarat–West Bengal–Northeast Nexus

The scam was well-organised, with specific roles assigned to different groups. The main accused from Gujarat handled all financial transactions from the fraud.

A man named John received 45 per cent of the total profits, while the remaining 55 pc was divided among Bhavesh Chaudhary, Bhavik Patel, Satish Lade, Walay Vyas, and Abdul Farooq Mukdam Shah alias Farooqui.

The West Bengal group managed citizen data used for the scams. The Northeast group was trained in American-accented English and handled conversations with U.S citizens.