Goa Police Bust Fake Call Centre, Arrest 13 For Duping US Citizens

The cyber crime cell of Goa Police today claimed to have busted a fake call centre, arresting 13 persons from various states for allegedly posing as officials representing the US Social Security Administration and extorting money from citizens of that country, police said.

The accused were arrested from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi. They were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act for running a fake call centre from the Morjim Beach Village in North Goa, a police spokesman said.

"The main accused duo Digvijay Rajput and Krunal Sharma had set up this fake call centre and employed some people. They used to obtain personal details of citizens of the USA through illegal means," he said.

Explaining the modus operandi, he said the accused used computers and virtual private network to contact their victims through the interactive voice response system. "They used to impersonate officers of the Social Security Administration and Law Enforcement Authority of the US," he added.

"The accused used to tell their potential targets that they had committed illegal acts like fraud or defaulted on paying tax and used to ask money to settle the matter. The gang was accepting payment through electronic currency and used to withdraw the money in Indian currency," the spokesman said.

Further investigation is underway.