Noida: 13 arrested for insurance fraud run from fake call centre

The suspects were part of a racket that involved over 100 people to run an illegal call centre, where unsuspecting victims were duped in the name of insurance policies

Noida: At least 13 people were arrested on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in an insurance fraud being carried out through a fake call centre in Noida Sector-63, the Noida police said.

Shavya Goyal, ADCP (Cyber Crime Branch), said the suspects were running a dual operation. “They had a genuine call centre with licences for two insurance firms and used it to make legitimate calls related to policies, bonuses and renewals. At the same time, they were calling people in the name of companies they were not authorised for, offering better returns or renewal benefits. Once the victim transferred the money, they would stop responding, especially when the complainant was based in a faraway state.” (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Police identified the nabbed suspects as Chhatrapal Sharma, 32, the alleged kingpin; Satyam, 30; Sameer, 33; Raj Saluddin, 30; Ishwar Karmali, 31; Suhail, 34; Vivek Kumar,36; Sumit Kumar, 28; Mohd Asif, 30; Rajiv Kumar, 33; Suhail, 30; Mithilesh, 29; and Hariom, 36.

The suspects were part of a racket that involved over 100 people to run an illegal call centre, where unsuspecting victims were duped in the name of insurance policies. An investigation was initiated following a complaint from a woman in Maharashtra who was cheated online, police said.

Explaining the modus operandi, Shavya Goyal, ADCP (Cyber Crime Branch), said the suspects were running a dual operation. “They had a genuine call centre with licences for two insurance firms and used it to make legitimate calls related to policies, bonuses and renewals. At the same time, they were calling people in the name of companies they were not authorised for, offering better returns or renewal benefits. Once the victim transferred the money, they would stop responding, especially when the complainant was based in a faraway state.”

Police said the suspects would deposit money into multiple mule accounts (bank accounts belonging to others) and fake SIM cards to hide the money trail and later distribute the proceeds among themselves.

“They had segregated teams, one handling the legitimate IVR calling, and another involved exclusively in fraudulent ‘false calling’,” the ADCP added.

Police have seized two laptops, one modem, a telecaller device, 31 mobile phones and 721 datasheets of victims.

A case has been registered under BNS sections for cheating, cheating by personation, forgery, using forged document or electronic record as genuine among others, and the IT Act.