14 held for running fake call centre in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: Police on Saturday arrested 14 suspects for allegedly running a call centre and duping people by selling fake software

Ghaziabad: Police on Saturday arrested 14 suspects for allegedly running a call centre and duping people by selling fake software. Police recovered 19 mobile phones and 17 personal computers, along with other materials from their possession and said the suspects trapped overseas customers, mostly from the US.

Ghaziabad, India - March 04, 2023: Vivek Chandra Yadav, ADCP Crime addresses a press conference as Ghaziabad Police arrested 14 accused for allegedly cheating people by running a call center in the name of providing technical support and software updates at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad , India on Saturday, March 04. 2023. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

Investigators said the gang operated in three groups. The first group provided a call link to the second group of suspects who operated the call centre in Indirapuram while the third group accepted payments from victims through a gateway.

Police said the suspects were nabbed while operating from a flat in Gyan Khand-2 locality of Indirapuram.

“All the 14 suspects are part of the second group who operated the call centre. Based on the link sent to the gullible customers, mostly in the US, the victims would call the call centre for providing them softwares such as anti-virus etc. The suspects would make them pay up and in turn install freeware or freely available softwares,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, additional deputy commissioner of police (crime).

The ADCP said during interrogation, the suspects told police that they amassed about ₹10-12 crore and earlier operated from Noida and Delhi. “This was their first stint in Ghaziabad. Based on information provided by the suspects, we are trying to trace the members of the first and the third group and also trying to trace the accounts in which they forced the customers to pay up,” ADCP Yadav added.