Fake call centre busted in Gurugram; 10 suspects held

Police in Gurugram have arrested 10 suspects operating an illegal call centre that targeted US citizens, duping them out of money by posing as technical support. The suspects used pop-ups and fake error messages to convince victims that their computers were infected with malware. They then charged between $100 and $3,000 for remote access repairs, accepting payment in gift cards and Google Pay. A total of ₹10 lakh was recovered from the suspects.

Gurugram: Police on Thursday busted an illegal call centre that was operating from a residential building in Sector 43 and arrested 10 suspects. As per police, it was allegedly duping citizens of the United States.

Gurugram, India-August 17, 2023: Varun Dahiya, ACP crime address a press conference after a team of cyber crime burst a fake call center and arrested the ten alleged accused including a women, in Gurugram, India, on Thursday, 17 August 2023. (Photo/Hindustan Times)

Police recovered ₹10 lakh from the possession of the arrested suspects.

Police said the suspects used to send emails to potential victims with fake pop-up error messages stating that malware had infected their computer systems and if not rectified immediately, their personal and financial data would be compromised. Also, they used to send pop-ups on porn sites and used to dupe their victims, police added.

A case was registered against the suspects at the Cyber Crime police station under Section 420 (cheating) and 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 75 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, police added.

Varun Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said the suspects were duping US citizens through voice messages in the name of technical support and removal of viruses from their laptops and desktops.

“The suspects used to send bulk voice email messages and duped the foreign nationals through pop-ups in the name of social security number (SSN). By taking remote access of their computers through Ultra Viewer, they charged between $100 and $3,000 from each victim to get the computer system repaired. They charged their victims through gift cards and Google Pay. After getting a gift card, they asked them to share a 16-digit card code and then redeemed it and transferred the money to their bank accounts,” ACP Dahiya said.