Mumbai: Call centre racket busted, cops say 10 held for cheating

The victim, the police said, paid the one-time settlement fee of Rs 96,000 through a bank transfer. “He even received fake documents bearing seals of the Income Tax department and the insurance company over WhatsApp. But when he approached the insurance firm, he realised that he had been duped,” the officer said.

After lodging an FIR, the Sagri police started investigating and through Call Data Records and other details, busted the racket. “The accused were running a call centre that was operating out of a commercial complex in Vikhroli. We raided the place and arrested nine men,” an officer said. Another accused, who helped them withdraw money deposited by the victims, was arrested from his residence in Virar, the police said.

“We are interrogating the arrested accused who are in police custody. They used to call people as insurance agents. In some cases, they promised people that by paying a one-time fee, they could take loans against their policies. In other cases, they tried to sell lucrative insurance schemes. They used fake documents to lure the victims into depositing big amounts, which they later withdrew,” said a senior officer.

The police seized several mobile phones, laptops and bank account details from Vikhroli, sources said. “We have also seized ATM cards used by them to withdraw cash,” an officer said. “It is clear that they were running a fake call centre but the modus operandi is new. It is probable that they have duped people across Mumbai, Thane and Palghar, as they had details of many people in their cellphones. We are investigating, along with the other police stations,” said the senior officer.