15 held by Noida Police for duping US citizens by posing as tech support

Police received a tip-off about a fake call centre in Sector 59, officials from Sector 58 police station conducted a search of the premises and arrested 15 people

Fifteen people, including three women, were arrested on Friday on charges of duping US citizens of money by posing as technology support executives, senior police officers said.

According to Rambadan Singh, deputy commissioner of police, Noida, the suspects were working out from a rented office in Sector 59, Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The suspects, who moved their operations from Mumbai to Noida a month ago, are believed to be part of a larger nexus involved in cyber fraud, they added.

According to Rambadan Singh, deputy commissioner of police, Noida, the suspects were working out from a rented office in Sector 59, Noida.

“Noida police received a tip-off about a fake call centre running out of a building in Sector 59, following which on Friday, officials from Sector 58 police station conducted a search of the premises and arrested 15 people from the spot,” said Singh.

“Also, 27 laptops, 20 headphone sets, 16 mobile phones, two internet switches, and one router have been recovered from the suspects. A reward of ₹25,000 has been announced for the team that carried out the operation.”

The 15 suspects have been identified as Nikhil Rana (36), who worked as the manager and mastermind of the operation, Virendra Rawat (32), Sanket Shah (32), Mohammad Ali (33), Shahrukh Khan (23), Khan Mohammad Danish (25), and Numer (30) , all residents of Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The others are Sameer (30) and Harish (40), residents of Thane, Maharashtra; Ubaid (31) and Venson (27) from Dimapur, Nagaland, and Amanda (31) and Kavinay (21) from Tamogo, Manipur.

The 15 suspects were residing in rented accommodation in different parts of Noida, police said.

Manish Mishra, additional deputy commissioner of police, said three more members of the gang, identified as Sami, Wasim alias Wahid, and Montu, are on the run.

“The suspects would send pop-ups on computers of US citizens that their bank accounts had been hacked and a contact number was flashed on the screen, urging the victim to call on it to get the problem fixed. Then, posing as tech support executives of companies such as Microsoft, the cyber frauds would connect with the targets and pretend to resolve their issues,” Mishra said.

“They would collect payments from the targets in the form of Bitcoin or payment mechanisms of technology firms such as Apple, Walmart, and Flipkart. These digital payments were shared on a Telegram group, and Monty, who is currently at large, would convert the virtual currency into physical currency. They are believed to have duped Americans of ₹50 lakh a month after they started operations in Noida. The accounts linked to the transactions are being traced,” Mishra said.

Station House officer of Sector 58 police station Amit Kumar said, “Prior to moving to Noida, the gang was based in Mumbai. More gangs, including those abroad, are believed to be connected to the suspects. Further investigation is underway. We are also trying to ascertain the number of people that the gang has duped so far,” Kumar said.

The suspects have been booked under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act, he added.