Illegal call centre busted; 4 held

Chaudhary bought fake sim cards from Firozabad and used them at the call centre in Delhi. SURYAKANT BANGAR, senior police inspector, DB Marg police station

MUMBAI: Four people were arrested by DB Marg police on Tuesday for operating an illegal call centre from Delhi and duping a Vikhroli resident.

The arrested accused aresaurabh Raghuvir Chauhan, 19, and Subham Dharmaveer Singh, 19, both from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh; Ashukumar Pramod Jain, 32, and Arshad Chaudhary alias Akash Chaudhary, 32, from Ghaziabad.

Police said the accused used fake SIM cards and pretended to be customer care executives of nationalised banks while calling potential victims. They would initially ask basic details and eventually lure the victim to give them one-time passwords (OTPS) and transfer money from their accounts.

Police also found that the accused used to purchase gold ornaments and mobile phones with the money and then sell them in the local market.

The complainant, Tukaram Dhange, 34, a resident of Vikhroli, alleged he received a call on May 18, 2019 wherein the caller identified himself as Abhay Shah, a customer care executive of the State Bank of India. “He scared Dhange by saying his credit card been blocked and told him to share his bank details to get it unblocked,” a police officer said. Dhange then gave his bank details, including the 16-digit credit card number and OTP. Using the an online payment application, the gang then transferred ₹1,94,986 from his account.

Dhange registered a complaint with DB Marg police on May 30. With the help of technical details like conatct number, police traced the accused.

Suryakant Bangar, senior police inspector, DB Marg police station, said, “During the investigation we found that Chauhan and Singh worked at a mobile shop in Firozabad. Chaudhary, the main accused, used to buy fake sim cards from the two. He used these SIM cards at his fake call centre in Delhi. Jain was Chaudhary’s accomplice. ”