The Mumbai police crime branch unit has uncovered a fraudulent call centre in Andheri (East) where staff members were tricking Canadians into purchasing e-commerce gift cards, which they redeemed before delivering to the purchasers or threatening them while impersonating law enforcement. According to a police official involved in the inquiry, Unit 10 of the crime branch raided a call centre at Mittal Industrial Estate in Marol, Andheri (East), on April 4, after receiving a tip.
The authorities claim that the call centre workers called Canadians pretending to be Amazon employees, the massive online retailer. They informed them that an iPhone 16 Pro Max purchase was listed in their Amazon account and requested them to hit 1 if they hadn't completed the purchase. According to the police officer, the executives then informed them that they had been duped and that the call was being forwarded to the office of the Canadian Crown Attorney. A Crown Attorney in Canada is a lawyer who prosecutes cases on behalf of the government.
The police official said that after the phone call was diverted, a second individual claimed to be from the Canadian Crown Attorney Courthouse and threatened to demand that the receivers buy a $100 gift card to resolve the dispute. They immediately sent the 16-digit gift card number to Shailesh Dombaria, the owner of the call company and a resident of Dombivli, who used to cash it.
According to the police, all of the suspects spoke to the Canadians using different identities and had picked up a foreign accent.
Five individuals, including the call centre manager Azhar Kadari (40), as well as staff members Akash Kale (30), Mohammad Shahnawaz Rais Shaikh (29), Gopalsingh Deepal (25), and Mustaffa Chitalwala (31) have been arrested by the police in connection with a cheating case. The police officer stated that they are looking for their co-conspirators, Sunita Pandey and Shailesh Dombaria, the owner. In addition to pertinent provisions of the Information Technology Act, the suspects were charged under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.