Fake call centre in Noida dupes US citizens, 7 held

At least five executives were arrested at a fake call center in Noida for posing as technical staff and scamming over 20 US and Canadian citizens out of ₹10 lakh in the past 15 days. Two other suspects who were planning to invest in the call center were also arrested. The suspects would send emails to victims, pretending to be from a technical support team, and convince them to give remote access to their computers. The victims would then pay the accused to resolve the issue. The masterminds of the gang are still at large.

A least five executives working at a bogus call centre in Noida were arrested for allegedly posing as technical staff and duping over 20 citizens of United States and Canada of ₹10 lakh in the past 15 days, police said on Friday. Two other suspects, who were allegedly going to invest in the fake call centre, were also arrested by the police when they arrived to finalise the deal.

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The suspects have been identified as Sachin Lakhanpal (33), a resident of Sector 137, Agnibh Banerjee (28), of Kolkata and resident of Sector 73, Rahul Gautam (34), a resident of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, Jai Kumar Kochhar (33), a resident of Uttam Nagar, Delhi, Pranab Banerjee (21), a native of Kolkata and resident of Sector 73, Mohd Hamza (22), a native of Kolkata and resident of Sector 73 and Shamil Khan (23), a native of Kolkata and a resident of Sector 73.

According to additional deputy commissioner of police Shakti Avasthy, police received a tip-off that some suspects involved in cyber fraud were scheduled to hold a business meeting at a farmhouse in Sector 135.

“Acting on the information, a team from Expressway police station reached the spot and arrested four suspects -- Lakhanpal, Agnibh, Kochhar and Gautam. It was found that Lakhanpal and Agnibh were going to finalise a deal with Kochhar and Gautam to invest in cyber fraud activities being carried out by them. Lakhanpal said he ran a call centre in village Sarfabad in Sector 73, Noida where they dupe citizens of US and Canada by posing as technical support staff. On his and Agnibh’s directions, police team reached the call centre and arrested three other people, who were working on laptops wearing headsets,” said the officer.

Upon investigation, it was found that the suspects would send an email blast to a large number of citizens, whose data was acquired by them through a vendor illegally.

“The emails were sent to unsuspecting victims in the US and Canada,informing them that their system had been compromised and they should call for technical assistance on the number given in the mail. When the victim called the number, it was picked up at the fake call centre. The suspects then pretended to be from the company’s technical support assistance team and induced the victims to give remote access of their computers. Later, they would tell the victims that several malicious programs had been found in their system,” said the ADCP.

They would even caution the victims that their banking credentials might have been compromised and immediate remedial steps were needed. The victims would then agree to pay whatever amount the accused asked for to resolve the issue, he said.

“On receiving the payment, the suspects pretended to clean up the malware, virus etc. from the victims’ system. The payments were made either in the form of gift cards or bitcoins, which the suspects would redeem immediately,” said Avasthy.

He further informed that the masterminds of the gang are Lakhanpal and Agnibh. “Agnibh was arrested by the Kolkata police in 2021, for a cyber fraud case. The three suspects arrested from the fake call centre were working for a monthly salary. Another mastermind of the gang, identified as Aman Chhabra, is absconding. He was earlier arrested by Delhi Police in another cyber fraud case. Police teams are working to nab him,” said the officer.

The suspects face charges of cheating under the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the IT Act.

“The call centre had been running since the past 15 days and the suspects have duped approximately 20 US and Canadian citizens to the tune of ₹10 lakh. Six laptop sets, 15 headphones, six mobile phones, ₹48,000 in cash and one car with a Uttarakhand registration has been recovered from the suspects. They were produced before a judicial magistrate on Saturday,” said Avasthy.