Fraud industry runs through outbound calls ;

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

A shocking cybercrime case was uncovered on Tuesday in the STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) complex located in Chikalthana MIDC, which was established in the 1990s and currently houses around 40 small and medium IT-related companies. From this relatively small IT park, a call centre was found to be operating an international fraud racket through outbound calls (using obtained data to contact foreign nationals). Investigations suggest the involvement of a network spread across several Indian states, supported by data provider websites and systems that create bogus apps for fraudulent purposes.

Police investigated the call centre for nearly 20 hours, revealing a large-scale international scam. The centre operated under the name VTS (Virtual Transaction System), where employees communicated in English with customers and conducted fraudulent financial transactions. The extent of fraud across different countries will be clear after data analysis. A team with interstate connections had rented office space at Connect Enterprises, T-7, STPI, about a year ago to start this illegal operation.

How call centres operate

A call centre serves as a company’s direct link to its customers through inbound calls (customers calling in) or outbound calls (company calling customers). Employees, typically trained as customer executives, interact with clients in English, provide assistance, and resolve issues. Supervisors monitor call quality and timing. Staff are trained in communication, product knowledge, and customer handling.

Most call centres run 24 hours a day, but this one operated primarily at night, with daily call targets for each employee. Using CRM software, they worked on expensive gadgets while ensuring fluent English communication and patience to maintain trust with customers.

What cyber experts say

Cyber expert Mayur Divate explained that such fraudulent call centres employ English-proficient youth, offering salaries and incentives. They ask victims to make payments via credit card links, download suspicious apps, or use screen-sharing tools under the pretext of offering loans, tax benefits, or discounts. Once screen-sharing begins, the scammers can view OTP codes and execute financial frauds in real time.

Divate emphasized that data provider sites and companies supplying personal data must also face action, as the root of such scams lies in data misuse. He added that if employees knowingly participating in these scams are penalized, it could help curb future cyber frauds.