Mira Road fake call centres could be tip of iceberg

The fake call centres operating from Mira Road, that was busted by the Thane police, could be just a tip of the iceberg and part of a larger international racket.

According to the investigations by the police, these call centres were engaged in duping United States’ citizens by posing as revenue officials and siphoning off money from their accounts.

At least nine call centres — comprising a total of nine floors — operating from three buildings on Mira Road, a busy western suburb, located nearly 50 km away from downtown Mumbai, were raided by a team of Crime Branch-CID of the Thane police. “It could be much bigger. This is just tip of the iceberg and the issue has international ramifications,” Thane police Commissioner Parambir Singh said.

The callers, who were trained to speak English with American accent would get in touch with Americans through VOIP calls and pose as internal revenue services officers and seek details of their finances and accounts.

The confused, worried and unsuspected people at the other end would share details and immediately the money would be siphoned off.

“It is a very big fraud something which is very difficult to imagine,” said an official of the State Intelligence Department. Looking at its enormity and ramifications, other agencies need to be involved in the investigation, he added.

Police sources said that Director General of Police Satish Mathur was briefed about the investigation.

During the raid, 772 people were rounded up, of whom 70 have been arrested, while 630 are listed as suspects but not arrested yet. Around 70 others have been let off for not having any direct benefit from the operations.

The three call centres that were raided are —Hari Om IT Park, Universal Outsourcing Services and Oswal House.
DH News Service