Goa cops bust fake call centre used to extort money from US nationals

In a significant raid, 13 persons were arrested after the Goa Police busted a fake call centre, which was used to defraud US nationals with threats of cancelling their social security numbers.

A statement issued by the Crime Branch of the Goa Police also said that the call centre racketeers, after threatening their targets, would then settle the matter by extorting money from their victims, which was later converted into Bitcoins.

"Upon analysis of evidence and preliminary interrogation it is found that they were defrauding American nationals by impersonating US govt agents and telling them that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) were going to be blocked as they were found in criminal investigation," the statement issued by the Crime Branch said.

"The victims were then coerced to settle the matter by paying fines in the form of Cash vouchers which were then converted to Bitcoin and used by the fraudsters," the statement also said.

The call centre was operating from a hotel located in the beach village of Morjim in North Goa, a popular destination for foreign tourists visiting the coastal state. Most of the persons arrested were from Gujarat and Mumbai, police said.

"Upon raid, 13 persons including the mastermind were apprehended and seizure of electronic devices including 12 computers and laptops was done," the statement said.