A call centre fraud where people were allegedly cheated out of nearly Rs 50 crore was busted in Punjab’s Mohali with the arrest of eight people, including a woman, during a raid at an illegal call centre, the police said on Wednesday.
DSP Rupinder Kaur Sohi, in charge of the Cyber Crime and Forensic Wing, said the illegal call centre operating from a flat at Eden Court Society in Sector 91 had been functioning for the past six months, working in day and night shifts and luring people into fraudulent cryptocurrency-related schemes.
Crypto fear tactics
According to DSP Sohi, the gang used a new method of fraud wherein they sent mass messages to people from across the country, claiming that money was being deducted from their accounts in suspicious cryptocurrency activity.
The victims were then provided with a contact number to “resolve” the issue. Once contact was made, the fraudsters impersonated officials and used fear tactics similar to “digital arrest” scams, claiming that illegal cryptocurrency transactions had occurred from the victim’s account. The victims were then tricked into transferring money under the pretext of securing their accounts.
The police recovered 12 laptops, 14 mobile phones, and 1 Scorpio SUV from the arrested accused, who belong to Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Himachal Pradesh. They were reportedly paid in cash to avoid leaving any financial trail.
The police are looking for the absconding kingpin of the gang. They hope to arrest him soon based on leads emerging from the interrogation of the other accused.
The police have registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 318(4) (cheating) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) as well as section 66 D of the Information Technology Act at Mohali’s Cyber Crime Police Station.
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