Delhi: Fake call centre busted, 4 who posed as staff of e-commerce giant held

Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, DCP Pandey said that the arrested men created a fake website claiming to be the service provider of the MNC and posted virtual toll free numbers. Police said they managed to push their website to the top of search engine results to attract victims

New Delhi: The city police on Saturday said they busted a fake call centre in south Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and arrested four men who allegedly impersonated executives of a multinational company dealing in e-commerce and targeted US citizens. Police said they seized 10 mobile phones, four laptops, two desktop computers, and other items.

Investigators said the four men allegedly tried to flee during the raid but were stopped by the police team. (Picture for representation only)

Police received information about the fake call centre late on Wednesday night, following which a team raided the place around 4.30am on Thursday. Investigators said four men, who were present at the spot, allegedly tried to flee but were stopped by the police team.

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Esha Pandey said a case of impersonation, cheating and criminal conspiracy was registered and the four were arrested. The suspects, who were identified as Mohammad Mukarram Hussain, Arjun Singh Saini, Gagan Bhatia and Shadab Ahmad alias Shadab Mullick, have no prior criminal record, she said.

According to police, Mullick has completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Saini holds a diploma in computer engineering, and the other two are Class 12 passouts.

“When gullible victims (mostly from the US) called, they tricked the customers into buying gift cards of the company and share the details with them. They further redeemed the cards into US dollars, Bitcoins, and Indian currency on a trading platform through an app,” said Pandey, adding that efforts were being made to nab more co-accused in the case.

More than 350 people have been arrested and nearly 20 fake call centres targeting citizens of the US and the UK through various cheating modus operandi have been busted in the past six months by the Delhi Police.