Odisha Police bust fake call centre

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police on Wednesday busted a fake call centre functioning in an apartment at Sundarpada area of Bhubaneswar. As per reports, the raid was conducted after the police received information from the locals that some suspected people were staying in a flat at Sundarpada under Airfield police limits and using some electronic equipment.

“It is found prima facie that the fraudsters were running a fake call centre here. They used to send malicious links to various persons in the country and outside from this call centre. They later duped the victims through these links,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra.

Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar cyber police has sought five-day remand of the six accused who were arrested for running the fake call centre to cheat people. Police said all the accused were produced in a local court on Thursday which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days. The accused, all from West Bengal, have been identified as Sameer Mobin (26), Md Javed Hussain (26), Md Tosif (23), Faizan Alam (24), Shaaib Raza(22) and Md Haider Ali (34), police said. Six laptops, 11 mobile phones, routers and cables were seized from their possession during a raid by Bhubaneswar cyber police.

DCP Pinak Mishra said, “We have requested the court to allow us five-day remand of the accused to get more details from them. Some investigation agencies have also contacted us to interrogate them.”

Police are currently working to identify the local contacts in Odisha who helped the accused to operate the fake call centre. Investigations are also underway to determine how many people have fallen victim to the gang and the extent of the fraudulent activities involved, he said.

The seized electronic devices have been sent for forensic analysis and a police team will be dispatched to Kolkata to verify the suspects’ details.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were sending fake emails to both national and international clients who had subscribed to various antivirus software, posing as customer care representatives for two antivirus companies. Additionally, police discovered that the six accused were using laptops and mobile phones to make and receive calls from the US citizens via Skype. “During interrogation, Haider Ali, the leader of the fake call centre, disclosed that his team was involved in sending fraudulent emails to clients, impersonating as customer care agents and providing fake phone numbers to induce customers into making fraudulent transactions. This operation reportedly generated a monthly income of Rs 1 lakh for the gang,” another police officer said.