Gurugram crime: Illegal call centre used for duping foreigners busted

An illegal call centre engaged in duping foreign nationals, operating from a commercial building on Golf Course Extension Road in Sector 69, was busted on Tuesday. The operators targeted foreign nationals, particularly those from the United States, and coerced them into buying gift cards by threatening to block their social security numbers over alleged illegal activities

An illegal call centre engaged in duping foreign nationals, operating from a commercial building on Golf Course Extension Road in Sector 69, was busted on Tuesday, the police said.

According to the police, they were tipped off about the illegal call centre operating on the 10th and 11th floors of the Spaze Plazo building, from where foreigners were duped using software. (Representative image)

The police said that the operators targeted foreign nationals, particularly those from the United States, and coerced them into buying gift cards by threatening to block their social security numbers over alleged illegal activities.

A case was registered against three persons but no arrests were made till Wednesday evening, the police said.

According to the police, they were tipped off about the call centre operating on the 10th and 11th floors of the Spaze Plazo building. During the raid on Tuesday, they found the 10th-floor office locked but were able to access the premises on the 11th floor, where 200 computers loaded with software to call foreigners were found.

The police said they obtained information about the three operators of the call centre from the building staff. “At the time of raid, no one was found in the office and on questioning the security staff of the building, the names of three persons running it were ascertained. A case has been registered against the trio,” a police official privy to the case said.

The police said that the operators used to select the numbers at random and tell the people answering the phone that their name had cropped up in a case of drugs and other illegal activities. Threatening that their social security numbers would be blocked, they would coax their victims to buy gift cards, which were monetised later.

A script used to threaten foreign citizens was also found loaded on the computers, the police said, adding that the machines were seized.

Subash Boken, spokesperson, Gurugram police, said that a case was registered under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 75 (offence or contravention carried out abroad but involves a computer, computer system or computer network located in India) of the IT Act, 2000, and Section 66D (cheating by personating using a computer or communication devise) of the IT Act, 2008, at the Sector 65 police station.