Two ex-employees booked for ‘theft’ of Gurgaon BPO’s customer database

Customer database of a BPO firm was stolen and used to float a new company in Dehradun

Customer database of a BPO firm in Gurgaon was stolen and used to float a new company in Dehradun. Two former employees of the BPO, Quattro Global Services Private Limited, have been booked for fraud and under the Information Technology (IT) Act in this regard.

The inspector in-charge of the cyber crime cell of Gurgaon said they received a complaint from the company in November. (Representative Photo)

Last month, an employee of the Dehradun-based company floated by the accused in January approached Quattro officials with information that the accused had captured videos of their confidential customer database. He had then formed the new company and allegedly misused the data for commercial purposes.

After getting the information, Quattro launched an internal probe. Later, the matter was referred to the cyber crime cell of Gurgaon police, which started an official probe.

Manoj Pandey, senior vice president, technical solutions group (TSG) operations of Quattro had filed the complaint in November.

The complaint stated that the company was victim of “digital fraud” that not only caused revenue loss, but also put its reputation at risk. “Personal information of our customers stands compromised and could be used for further fraudulent purposes,” the complaint said.

Anand Kumar, inspector in-charge, cyber crime cell, Gurgaon, said, “Inquiries substantiated the allegations, after which we referred the matter for filing of an FIR. Mobile phones or other electronic gadgets are not allowed in the section where the customer database is kept, but the two accused somehow managed to capture the data through videos on mobile phones.”

An FIR under sections 379 (theft) and 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the IT Act was filed on Saturday, said inspector Arjun Dev, station house officer (SHO), Udyog Vihar police station. Inspector Kumar said the accused would be arrested and questioned about their modus operandi.

The TSG wing of Quattro provides remote support for computers and other peripherals of customers. The company named two of its former employees – Pramod Mamgain and Vikas Verma – as suspects and the police booked the duo.

Mamgain was in the technical service team while Verma was in sales team. Both of them got access to customer database, stated the complaint.

The complaint also mentioned that the accused had “more than 700 videos recorded for over three months in various shifts and had substantial confidential customer information of Quattro”. The company claimed to have received 50 videos as evidence.