Three arrested in Gujarat for running fake call centre targeting US citizens

GUJARAT police on Monday (10) arrested three persons for operating a fake call centre in Ahmedabad which targeted US citizens by offering them quick loans.

A cyber crime team raided the call centre located in Jagatpur on Sunday (9) and nabbed Ahmedabad-residents Bharatsingh Mandola (35), Akhilesh Nair (23) and Ajay Sonavane (28).

They used to call unsuspecting Americans by identifying themselves as representatives of the USA speedy cash loan centre and lure people by offering them quick loans, a statement said.

To win the trust, they used to make calls using a specialised software, and persons on the other side would see a US telecom number on their phone screen rather than an Indian number, the police said.

"Once the victims expressed willingness to take loan, the accused would tell them that the loan could not be disbursed because of less credit score. They would tell the victims to first deposit a transaction fee to increase their credit score and get the loan," the statement added.

"For the payment of transaction fees, they used to ask the victims to share the 16 digit number of gift cards of various e-commerce companies and then encash those gift cards from India."

According to police, Mandola had roped-in the other two accused and started the illegal call centre at his residence in Jagatpur.

The three accused were booked on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, the police said.