FBI, Interpol to check illegal call centres in Noida

THE ACCUSED IN THAT CASE DUPED FOREIGNERS, MOSTLY AMERICANS, BY OFFERING THEM CHEAP ‘PAY DAY’ LOANS

Noida:officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Interpol division of the FBI held a meeting with Gautam Budh Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) on the growing number of illegal call centres operating out of Noida that were increasingly cheating foreign nationals.

The meeting, which was held at senior superintendent of police Ajay Pal Sharma’s office on Wednesday, focused on the number of complaints against call centres active in the district that duped foreign citizens, especially Canadians and Americans, on the pretext of providing them loans, shares and products.

“In the past six months, we have raided five illegal call centres and we are currently working on one more such case. In all the cases, police had taken suomotu cognisance and conducted raids after getting specific tipoffs. However, we had no contact with the victims as these call centres mostly targetted foreign nationals. In Wednesday’s meeting with the FBI, Interpol and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, it was decided that the agencies will track the victims abroad and get their statements to help Noida Police make their case stronger. They will also alert us regarding suspicious activity that involves call centres based in Noida or Greater Noida,” Sharma said.

In the past, police have taken action after receiving repeated complaints of fake call centres operating from areas like Sector 49, 58, 62 and 63. In March, 2018, a Noida Special Task Force (STF) had arrested 135 persons across Delhi-ncr for allegedly duping people to the tune of ₹200 crore by pretending to be representatives of insurance schemes and online shopping portals. In April, 2018, a total of 23 persons had been arrested for running a fake call centre in Sector 59. The accused in that case duped foreigners, mostly Americans, by offering them cheap ‘pay day’ loans.

Explaining the modus operandi of dubious call centres, Sharma said, “Six months ago, we raided a call centre in Sector 49 which used to dupe people with fake offers of loans. Their call operator used to ask people to deposit $1,000 to get a certain loan passed in their names.”