3 arrested for running fake call centre in Ghaziabad, duping many of lakhs

The police recently arrested three people from Ghaziabad; the 10 accused used to call people in Mumbai and offer them personal loans

With the arrest of three people, the Matunga police have busted a fake call centre that was being operated from Ghaziabad. The police said the gang has cheated at least 80 people of lakhs of rupees in the past six months.

The police said the gang has cheated at least 80 people of lakhs of rupees in the past six months (FILE)

According to the police, the 10 accused, who worked from a rented flat in Ghaziabad, used to call people in Mumbai, offering them personal loan. They would then ask them to deposit the processing fees and other taxes in their account number.

The racket was unearthed after Suraj Abhimanuy Muke, 30, a PhD student from Institute of Chemical Technology in Matunga, received a call from an unknown person, who posed as an employee of a multi-national bank and offered him a loan. “Muke was asked to share his personal details and documents on an email ID, cityfinance@gmail.com. He was asked to deposit the processing fees, documentation charges, fixed deposit of 5%, 8% on GST, and then send some cash,” said BM Kakad, senior police inspector, Matunga police station.

The police traced the four contact numbers and the account number to Vasundhara in Ghaziabad.

Maruti Shelke, sub-inspector of Matunga police station, who was investigating the case along with police constables Vikas More and Santosh Pawar, visited Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida, and stayed there for eight days. “We laid a trap at an ATM in Vasudhara. On the eighth day, one of the accused Shamkant Sharma, 22, came to withdraw cash. He led to us to two other accused,” said Shelke.

The duo has been identified as Vivek Sharma, 26, and Ashukumar Singh, 24. The police found 17 mobile phones, one laptop, 22 debit cards, 2 hard disk with routers from the flat.