Team Herald
PANJIM: The Cyber Cell of Goa Police have busted an illegal call centre being operated from Zuari Nagar which was engaged in cyber fraud targeting US citizens by arresting 24 persons and recovering 26 laptops, 24 headphones, 8 internet routers and 26 mobile phones.
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Addressing a press conference at Police Headquarters in the city, Rahul Gupta, SP (Cyber Crime) said the accused, working with a common intent, impersonated loan company agents, staff from Amazon headquarters, bank employees, Paypal, IOS, Zell Pay, Apple Pay, government agencies, and law enforcement officers. They induced unsuspecting US citizens to pay large sums in the form of gift cards, bitcoins, and other means under false pretexts, including loan assistance, purchase payments, and technical support.
Gupta said that on November 23, the Cyber Crime Police Station registered a case under Sections 318(4), 319(2) read with 3(5) of BNS and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act. Acting on credible information and technical surveillance, a raid was conducted at Zuari Nagar which led to the arrest of 24 persons, who were allegedly caught red-handed operating the fraudulent call centre.
The SP said the main accused in the case was Mayank Kaushik (38) from Delhi. The call centre has been operational since one month, during which it is estimated to have perpetrated fraud amounting to over Rs one crore. The employees were recruited via an online agency and trained extensively on specific scripts to be used during calls. Their monthly salaries ranged between Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000.
The DGP said that those who have been arrested knew that they were indulging in illegalities.
He said that the money from gullible US citizens used to be delivered in Delhi after going through various channels.
The case is being investigated by PI Deepak Pednekar of Cyber Crime Police Station.
