Fake Call Center Busted in Panchkula: Four Key Accused Arrested for Targeting US Citizens
It is alleged that this gang was perpetrating cyber fraud by specifically targeting citizens of the United States. The police received a tip-off that online fraud against foreign nationals was being conducted from the office of an event management company located in the Sector-2 market area.
Acting on this information, the Cyber Police Station team conducted a late-night raid on Monday. During the operation, authorities recovered 19 computers, 3 laptops, ₹11.30 lakh in cash, 3 walkie-talkies, 16 headsets, 2 Wi-Fi routers, a currency counting machine, 3 POS machines, and gold jewelry from the premises.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused would call US citizens, posing as customer care executives of various companies. During these conversations, they would gain the victims’ trust using various pretexts to extract confidential information related to their credit cards and bank accounts. Subsequently, fraudulent transactions were carried out from these accounts to commit the fraud.
Police investigations have also revealed that the call center operated according to US time zones. The office would open around 7 PM and remain operational until 3 AM to facilitate easy contact with US citizens. The police have registered a case against all the accused individuals.
The arrested accused will be produced in court and taken into police remand to uncover the full extent of the network, trace financial transactions, and determine the total amount of money defrauded. The police are also investigating how many individuals this international cyber fraud racket has victimized so far.
