PANJIM: Thirteen cyber criminals from Maharashtra and Gujarat have been arrested for cheating several American nationals, purportedly involved in criminal cases.
A media statement issued by Goa Police stated that a fake call centre at rented premises in Morjim, operated by the accused, targeted US citizens. The vulnerable foreigners would fall prey to the calls and pay ‘fines’ in form of cash vouchers that were later converted to Bitcoin by the defrauders.
“On September 8, 2021, upon specific information received regarding operation of a fake call centre defrauding Americans, a combined team of Cyber Crime and Crime Branch was formed. Upon verification, a raid was conducted at premises identified as Eden Hotel in Morjim where a full-fledged call centre was found operating. Upon raid, 13 persons including mastermind were apprehended and seizure of electronic devices including 12 computers and laptops was done,” SP Shobhit Saxena said.
Preliminary interrogation of the arrested men and an analysis of evidence revealed that the accused impersonated US Government agents. On the international calls made to their victims, the accused would warn that ‘their Social Security Numbers (SSN) were going to be blocked as they were found in criminal investigation. The victims were then coerced to settle the matter by paying fines in the form of cash vouchers which were then converted to Bitcoin and used by the fraudsters.’ The team is conducting further technical and forensic investigations.
