Fake call centre busted, 5 held

Mumbai, December 22

Advertisement

A fake call centre targeting US nationals with loan promises and swindling them through process fee and security deposits using gift cards was busted in Jogeshwari suburb of Mumbai, and five people were arrested, police said on Sunday.

The raid was carried out early today in Prem Nagar locality, a Meghwadi police station official said, adding calls were made using ‘magicJack’, a device that facilitates international calls through Internet or landline and cordless phones using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

He identified the arrested persons as main accused Afsan Alam Sheikh, Mohsin Sayyed, Rameez Sheikh, Arbaz Ansari and Umer Shafique Meer, all of whom have been remanded in police custody till December 26.

“Using magicJack device, they would call US citizens and promise them loans. Once someone fell for it, the accused would demand security deposit charges or processing fee through gift cards, which were then converted to Indian currency here,” the official explained. — PTI