Faridabad cyber police bust fake call centre operating from Delhi, 6 held

Police said the racket operated from a rented flat since 2021, used phishing links, and led to multiple fraud complaints across Faridabad district.

Six people accused of running a fake call centre in Delhi’s Moti Nagar were arrested during a raid by Faridabad police on Friday, police said on Sunday. Officials said the accused were operating a fraudulent customer service setup that was used to threaten people with credit card deductions and defraud them.

Five women callers and the operator were held after a Sotai resident’s complaint triggered a cybercrime probe and recovery of SIM cards and phones. (File photo)

A team from the Ballabhgarh Cybercrime police station tracked the fake call centre using technical assistance and arrested five women along with the operator of the unit from the spot. The action followed a complaint by a resident of Faridabad’s Sotai.

“Based on a complaint received from a resident of Faridabad’s Sotai, an FIR was registered against unidentified suspects on October 27 this year for posing as a representative of the State Bank of India’s credit card department who demanded that the complainant subscribe to a mandatory credit card service, or else money would be deducted from their credit card,” said a senior police official, requesting anonymity.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused sent fraudulent links to victims’ mobile phones, allowing money to be transferred through a single click. Police said at least ₹20,000 was syphoned off in such transactions.

“When placed under interrogation, the operator, identified as Anup Dhandwal, 40, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, who had opened the call centre at a rented flat in 2021, revealed that he used to pay ₹20,000 in salaries other than incentives to four women trained to make calls,” said Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police.

Investigators said those arrested included team leader Yogeshwari, 25; HR head Vijaya, 23; and callers Sohin, 21, Shashi, 47, and Minakshi, 24, all residents of different parts of Delhi. “The accused are booked under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Dandwal and Yogeshwari were sent for one day of police remand on Friday for further questioning. Twelve SIM cards and three mobile phones were recovered at the scene. The recovered SIM cards also revealed three more fraud cases in Faridabad district,” Yadav said.