In a major outbreak, Mumbai Police on Wednesday busted a fake international call centre in Mumbai that was cheating people in the US and Canada. During the operation, police arrested five persons in this connection.
As reported by news agency PTI, the police had received information that a person named Sagar Gupta was running a fake international call centre at Mumbai’s Mulund Colony. The informer also told the police officials that he also has an associate, and both of them, by impersonating a loan official of a US-based lender, make phishing calls and messages.
A police official, while asserting about them, said, “They were cheating US and Canadian citizens by offering them quick loans and fraudulently obtaining proceeds of crime via gift cards or cryptocurrency,” as cited by news agency PTI.
The police official further added that, “Police on Tuesday arrested five persons and seized two laptops, 11 mobile phones, two routers and Rs 76,000 in cash from them.”
While informing about the arrested accused, he said, “Those arrested have been identified as Sagar Rajesh Gupta (27), Abhishek Suryaprakash Singh (28), Tanmay Kumar Rajneesh Dhadsing (27), Shailesh Manohar Shetty (27) and Rohan Ansari (28),” as reported by PTI.
The search was on for a person, identified as Prashant Rajput from Surat in Gujarat, who was helping the accused to convert the dollar gift cards into Indian currency, and the other accused in the case.
The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, the police added, reported PTI.
Mumbai businessman loses Rs 53 lakh in online digital arrest scam
In a different scenario, a 60-year-old Mumbai businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 53 lakh by cyber criminals posing as officials from TRAI, Delhi Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate.
The scammers threatened the victim with arrest in a fake money-laundering case. They further kept him on a continuous WhatsApp video call, claiming that he was under digital arrest, and coerced him into transferring money for supposed security verification.
Panicked, the victim shared details of his bank accounts, business, and assets. He was ordered to stay alone overnight in a closed room with the video call on, under the pretext of digital arrest.
The next morning, the scammers staged a fake online bail hearing, showing a fabricated judge cancelling his bail and ordering his accounts to be frozen.
Under pressure, the victim transferred Rs 50 lakh to a private bank account and Rs 3 lakh to a nationalised bank account. When further money was demanded, the victim grew suspicious; he ended the call and immediately registered a complaint with the national cyber helpline 1930.
