Bogus NGO, call centre busted in Noida; 13 arrested

Noida: A bogus NGO fraudulently collecting donations in the name of providing treatment for the poor and a fake call centre duping people on the pretext of getting them jobs have been busted here, police said on Friday. 

Thirteen people, including five women, were held during police raids on Thursday at both the places which were operating from different floors of the same building in Sector 2 area here, they said.  

The NGO, We Care Foundation, was operating from the ground floor of the building, while the call centre was active on its first floor," Superintendent of Police (Crime) Ashok Kumar Singh told reporters.  

He said the NGO would collect donations apparently to help poor patients and underprivileged children, including those suffering from AIDS and physical amputations. 

They would even accept donations online and through mobile wallet, but did not give receipt to donors, he said. "The NGO was being run by a man identified as Vikas Goswami. 

He also had a press card of 'Jigyasa Sansar' and the police are verifying its veracity," Singh said.  Goswami, along with three associates, Usman Sultan, Danny Singh and Pradeep Shukla, has been arrested, he said. 

The NGO had collected Rs 16.31 lakh in donations so far, the SP said, adding that they were probing the case and the amount could go up further. 

In the fake call centre, nine accused were arrested, while two of their associates are at large, Singh said. The accused would gather details of people looking for jobs through websites featuring employment opportunities and then call them up with bogus job offers. 

"These people had a website -- "http://careerstreet.com" -- and lured jobless people by offering them work in banks such as ICICI and HDFC. They would ask their targets to remit Rs 2,500 in fees for 'modifying resume', then send them fake job offer letters.

Once trapped, the victims were then asked to pay for other documentation works and insurance services etc ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000," Singh said. They would ask them to deposit the money either in their bank account or transfer it using e-wallet, he said. 

The kingpin of the fake call centre, Sanjeev Bose, who used to gather the data, is absconding with one of his key associates, the officer said.