Mumbai police's Crime Branch raided Exphinity Call Centre on S V Road (File)
The Mumbai police claimed Friday to have busted a call centre racket by arresting two persons who allegedly cheated thousands of US citizens by offering to cleanse their computers of virus or malware.
Unit-9 of the police's Crime Branch raided Exphinity Call Centre on S V Road in suburban Andheri Thursday and seized computers and other equipment used by the accused, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Akbar Pathan.
During the raid, police found some 40 employees working at the call centre, busy calling US citizens under fictitious names and speaking with American accent, he said.
Police arrested owner of the call centre David Alphnso (22) and Santosh Yadav (28), an IT expert, under section 420 of IPC (cheating) and other relevant acts, he said.
The employees at the call centre allegedly called US citizens and told them that their computer or laptop had a virus or malware (a malicious software intended to damage files).
The callers then offered to remove the virus or malware by installing anti-virus program, the officials said.
If the person agreed, he or she was asked to pay anything between $100 to 700 through digital 'gift cards' of online shopping websites, he said.
The amount was received in the accused's bank accounts.
Investigation revealed that thousands of US nationals were allegedly duped thus in the last seven months, said senior police inspector Mahesh Desai who carried out the raid alongwith inspector Asha Korke and others.
Search is on for some other suspects, Mr Desai added.