The police have busted a fake international call centre in Sector 2, Panchkula, for allegedly duping US citizens by posing as employees of an e-commerce company. Twenty-one persons were arrested from the centre operating on the first floor in Sector 2, including four key accused.
The main accused were produced in court and remanded to seven days of police custody.
A police team found number of young men and women communicating with foreign nationals through laptops, headsets, and internet-based software at the centre. The investigation revealed that the accused received calls through software and allegedly deceived people by posing as customer service representatives of Amazon, an e-commerce company. After that, they obtained the victims’ personal information and made them download remote access applications such as AnyDesk.
Using this access, they misled victims into purchasing gift cards. The cards were later redeemed through various means for financial gain.
“Police seized 19 computers, three laptops, 16 headsets, two POS machines, three walkie-talkie sets, two Wi-Fi routers, a currency counting machine, a seal, hardware crypto wallets, Rs 11.30 lakh in cash, counterfeit foreign currency, gold jewellery, diamond tops, chains, bracelets, and other important documents and electronic devices from the spot,” said Police Commissioner Pankaj Nain. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the illicit proceeds were sent to various states through hawala networks and crypto channels.
The 21 arrested include four main accused — Raja Siddiqui of Kolkata/Mohali, Akshay alias Tikku of Delhi/Panchkula, Navdeep Bedi alias Raj Bedi of Batala, Punjab/Panchkula, and Ankur Kapoor of Panchkula — who have been remanded to seven days of police custody.
The other 17 accused include five young women and 12 young men. They are permanent residents of Chandigarh, Mohali, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Kolkata, and other states, and worked as computer operators at the centre. All 17 have been released on bail.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the gang ran an organised cyber fraud by recruiting youth from different states and targeting foreign nationals.
The accused made several important revelations during interrogation. The investigation has uncovered the role of hawala networks, crypto transactions, the movement of funds siphoned from foreign nationals, and other associates. Police teams are preparing to conduct raids in other states based on information provided by the accused. More arrests are expected in the case.
A case has been registered under various sections of the BNS, the Information Technology Act, and the Telecommunications Act, and an in-depth investigation is underway.
