79 held in Noida fake call centre case

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, June 30

The Noida police have unearthed a fake call centre whose employees allegedly duped US nationals. Seventy-nine persons have been arrested in the case.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Hridayesh Katheria said a gang was operating from the Bhutani Alphathum building in Sector 90, Noida.

Initially, the police had arrested 73 persons, including 33 women, who were employees from the premises. Acting on electronic surveillance and technical evidence, the police on Sunday apprehended the main accused, Bhupendra Singh Pundeer (alias Bunty), Saurabh Singh, Shubham Upadhyay and Patel Vandan. Two other accused, Ankit Thakur and Rohan Dilip Sandal, were also arrested from the vicinity.

Katheriya stated they had received a tip-off, the raid followed an intelligence tip-off about a gang operating from an office in the Bhutani Alphathum building.

“Acting on the information, the place was searched, and incriminating evidence —including 73 computer sets, 14 mobile phones, three routers, Rs 48,000 and 58 printouts of scripts for running fake call centres — was recovered from the spot,” Katheriya added

A police spokesperson said, “The accused used computers for tele-calling American citizens, exploiting their social security numbers (SSN) to deceive them into paying money through gift cards or cryptocurrency.”

“The call centre employees would pose as US Marshals to intimidate victims, claiming they were involved in criminal activities linked to their (SSN). They then demanded money to avoid further legal actions,” the spokesperson said.

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