Scripted conversations, pseudonyms used: How fraud call centre in Ahmedabad posed as Dubai firm
Investigators found the tech-savvy syndicate used fake international numbers and mock rehearsals to dupe victims into paying massive security deposits for bogus Dubai-based business ventures.
A probe revealed that top fraudsters at this call centre conducted rehearsals of scripts before making calls to the victim who had responded to online advertisements. (Express photo) Last week, when a Pune City police team raided a fraudulent call centre operating out of an upscale area in Ahmedabad, investigators recovered more than just mobile phones and computers and data storage devices. They also found detailed scripts written to con targets in the name of a Dubai-based company. The documents contained elaborate conversation flows, convincing business pitches and even assigned character names — in this case their pseudonyms — that each suspect was supposed to use while speaking to potential targets.
A probe even revealed that top fraudsters at this call centre conducted rehearsals of these scripts before making calls to the victim who had responded to online advertisements. Police have arrested two suspects from Gujarat, a man and a woman, and a search was underway for other suspects including the mastermind.
A team from Kharadi police station has been probing a case in which a 32-year-old entrepreneur was swindled of Rs 70.8 lakh between February and April this year after being lured by the promise of a lucrative Dubai-linked business venture. The victim, who runs a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, had responded to an Instagram advertisement that read: “Start your new profitable business with tax-free income, join hands with Dubai MNC and start your own call center”.
After filling out a form accessed through the advertisement link, he received a call from a woman identifying as Diya Bhat from a UAE number beginning with the country code +971. Once he expressed interest in partnering with the purported Dubai-based company, he was invited to a Google Meet interaction with Diya Bhat and “Sanvi Shah”. During the video call, the complainant was offered business projects in sectors such as food delivery, car rentals and e-commerce. He was subsequently persuaded to pay multiple amounts as “security deposits” for the projects and was also made to sign a phoney Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The victim was even invited to Dubai but was told the meeting had been cancelled due to the Iran-Israel-US conflict. By that time, the complainant realised the company was fake and there was no business opportunity and he had lost Rs 70.8 lakh.
During the investigation, police analysed technical leads and traced the operation to Ahmedabad. Investigators found that the suspects allegedly contacted victims via phone calls while pretending to operate from Dubai. Police said the accused had set up an unauthorised company offering human Resources solutions and were using pseudonyms while speaking to clients.
An officer who is part of the probe said, “The script appears carefully designed to make the operation sound like a sophisticated international business opportunity rather than a risky investment pitch. For example, the executives were asked to say ‘This will be a structured business discussion. I’ll first understand your background, then briefly explain our operating model’. This was for building credibility. Then there was the line ‘We operate as a global business aggregator and operator in the customer experience industry’. Thus throwing jargon at the victim. The script had the line ‘Instead of you finding clients and building processes and taking sales risks, we will handle it for you’.”
The officer added, “The script contained answers to different types of possible doubts, apprehensions expressed by the targets — specifically very elaborate answers when they ask why they should pay. It had detailed charts of money to be sought from the targets for various businesses they choose.”
Another officer who was part of the probe said, “The script largely revolves around convincing targets that they were being offered a legitimate opportunity to operate outsourced customer support projects especially in the US market. The callers were instructed to speak in a polished corporate style, ask detailed profiling questions and gradually build confidence with the target. The pitch was crafted to make victims believe they were entering into a stable overseas outsourcing arrangement with assured clients, recurring income and long-term contracts.”
After the raid, police arrested suspects Khushi Kaushal Parmar, a resident of Rajkot who operated under the pseudonym Saanvi Shah, and Tushar Maheshkumar Talpada, a resident of Ahmedabad. Police said efforts were underway to trace and arrest others accused involved in the racket.
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