Noida: Fake call centre that duped US nationals busted, 73 arrested

Police found suspects duped American nationals by convincing them their Social Security Number (SSN) had been compromised, leading them to lose all the money in their bank accounts.

The Noida Police raided a fake call centre in Sector 90 on Friday night, arresting 40 men and 30 women who allegedly duped hundreds of US citizens of over ₹1 crore in the last four months, said officers aware of the case, adding that the suspects posed as “US Marshals”.

Four prime suspects, believed to be the masterminds behind the operation, are currently absconding, police said. The raid followed an intelligence tip-off about the gang operating from an office in the Bhutani Alphathum building. Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) Hridesh Katheriya reported that the raid followed an intelligence tip-off about the gang operating from an office in the Bhutani Alphathum building.

“Acting on the information, the place was searched, and incriminating evidence was recovered from the spot, including 73 computer sets (TFT, CPU, keyboard, mouse, headphone etc.), 14 mobiles, three routers, ₹48,000 in cash and 58 script printouts (written script for running fake call centers),” Katheriya said.

During probe, police found suspects duped American nationals by convincing them their Social Security Number (SSN) had been compromised, leading them to lose all the money in their bank accounts.

“Upon investigation, voicemails were found were sent using an interactive voice response (IVR) system, claiming the SSN’s involvement in criminal activities and instructing victims to call a fake helpline,” the ADCP said. The details of these the victims were acquired by them through a vendor illegally, he added.

In the voicemail, the suspects claimed to be from the United States Social Security Administration and said that the victim’s SSN was being seized over involvement with some criminal activities. They would then dupe them further by asking them to call back on the helpline’s number to verify the claims.

“Out of all the voicemails sent to Americans while some people would ignore them, several would call on the fake helpline number. Following this, the call landed to the executives at the Noida call centre who had a fixed script to read out to the victims to instill fear in them that their SSN number was being seized. Scared, the victims would then follow the instructions given to them,” said police.

Once trapped, the gang would tell their victims that they can use the help of ‘US Marshalls’ to get rid of the charges. Once the victims would agree, they were put in touch with these ‘US Marshalls’, who were the same executives sitting in the Noida office, disguising themselves as American government officials, Katheriya added.

“Eventually the US citizens were asked to make online payments, through coupon cards of Apple [iTunes], or as in some cases, even though cryptocurrency like Bitcoin,” the ADCP said. He added that once the payment was made, the suspects would then siphon off their money, transferring it to their own bank accounts.

Katheriya added that the exact number of victims is yet to be ascertained. “It is suspected that they have defrauded their targets to the tune of over ₹1 crore, in the last four months, since their operations began,” he said

A first information report has been registered under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (all related to forgery) of the Indian Penal Code, and under provisions of the Information Technology Act.

“While the 73 individuals who used to call the victims were arrested, four prime suspects who ran the whole operation are absconding and teams have been deployed to nab them,” said Katheriya.

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