- By Nidhi Giri
- Mon, 01 Jul 2024 08:42 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Noida News: The Noida Police arrested six more people in connection with the busting of a fake call centre for duping money from American nationals. With fresh arrests on Sunday, the total number of arrests in the case has now gone up to 79. Police said that the call centre which was operating from Bhutani Anthum building in Sector 90 was busted on Saturday.
The centre was reportedly being used to extort money from American citizens, a PTI report said.
The arrests were made by a team of the local Sector-142 police station, and the operation led to the seizure of Rs 45 lakh cash. An FIR was filed on June 29 at Sector 142 police station under sections 420 for cheating, 467 for forgery of valuable security, 468 for forgery for purpose of cheating, 471 for using as genuine a forged document, 120B for criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 of the IT act.
READ MORE: Delhi Weather: Torrential Rain In National Capital On June 28 Not Due To Cloudburst, Clarifies IMD
Based on electronic surveillance and technical evidence, police on Sunday arrested the main accused. The main accused have been identified as 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.
The police spokesperson explained that the accused used computers for tele-calling through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to connect with American citizens, using their social security numbers to lure them into paying money through gift cards or cryptocurrency. The spokesperson added that the call centre employees disguised as US Marshals to intimidate the victims, claiming they were involved in criminal activities linked to their social security numbers. Then, they demanded money to avoid any legal action. The call centre used several software to receive calls that were routed by the call centre owner.
In another unrelated incident, a civil service aspirant in New Delhi was scammed through a dating app, a cafe, and a well-coordinated scheme targeting unsuspecting men. The incident took place on Sunday when the victim arrived at the Black Mirror Cafe in East Delhi's Vikas Marg to celebrate the birthday of Versha, a woman he had recently matched with on Tinder. They ordered snacks, two cakes and four non-alcoholic beverages.
The situation took an unexpected turn when Versha left abruptly due to a family emergency. When the man finished his meal and requested the bill, he was stunned to find it totalled Rs 1,21,917.70, an amount far exceeding the actual cost of the food, which should have been only a few thousand rupees.
The situation took an unexpected turn when Versha left abruptly due to a family emergency. When the man finished his meal and requested the bill, he was stunned to find it totalled Rs 1,21,917.70, an amount far exceeding the actual cost of the food, which should have been only a few thousand rupees.
Upon leaving the cafe, the man immediately reported the incident to the police, leading to an investigation led by Inspector Sanjay Gupta and his four-member team. The probe revealed a well-orchestrated scheme involving the cafe's owners, Akshay Pahwa, Ansh Grover and Vansh Pahwa (who are cousins), as well as several "table managers" employed by the establishment.