A cyber fraud racket that lured innocent citizens from Mumbai, Delhi, and other cities with fake loan offers has been busted by the Cyber Cell. The gang operated out of a bogus call centre in Delhi, from where multiple fraudulent calls were made under the pretext of providing interest-free loans.
In a joint operation, Mumbai Cyber Cell and Delhi Police raided the fake call centre and arrested three accused identified as Shehzad Lalmohammed Khan alias Rehman, Anuj Uttamsingh Rawat alias Anilkumar Yadav, and Mohammad Amir Hussain—all residents of Delhi.
The trio reportedly cheated a senior citizen from Mumbai's western suburbs of a whopping Rs 1.14 crore by offering him a loan at 0% interest. Investigations revealed that the accused used forged documents bearing logos and stamps of reputed financial institutions like Bajaj Finance to win the victim’s trust. They convinced the victim to transfer the money in instalments under the pretext of processing fees and other formalities, without disbursing any loan.
Based on the complaint filed by the senior citizen with the Western Regional Cyber Cell, a detailed probe was initiated. The investigating team traced the fraudulent calls to Delhi and, with the help of the local crime branch, raided Maximiser Marketing Pvt. Ltd., a fake call centre operating out of Harinagar and Anand Vihar areas.
During the raid, police seized 105 mobile phones and a laptop. Preliminary investigation has revealed that over 132 cyber fraud cases are linked to the mobile numbers recovered, amounting to scams worth several crores. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal has records of these numbers being used in numerous other frauds.
All three accused were brought to Mumbai and produced before the Fort Court, which remanded them to police custody. Police believe the gang has been involved in multiple such frauds across cities, and their arrest could help crack several other pending cases of similar nature.