Mumbai:
After an ISD calling card multi-crore scam was unearthed, investigations in the case have pointed to a possible Mumbai-based kingpin who operated and executed the entire scam.
According to investigators, this unidentified Mumbai-based man not only sourced the international and satellite numbers, but also procured and provided the privileged SIM cards to the calling squad.
He also selected and appointed calling squads in cities across the nation, including Kanpur, Lucknow and Delhi.
The modus operandi of the latest scam to hit the country involves making ISD calls, generating traffic for service provider, earning money through hawala. This scam emerged after an Uttar Pradesh ATS team arrested a gang of four for making calls to satellite numbers from Azamgarh.
The scam is as simple as it gets, and that is what makes it far more lethal. Here's how it works: A phone operator provides a list of international numbers to a member of a calling squad.
This member is also provided with a 'privileged' SIM card that he uses to make ISD calls.
All that the member has to do is dial the ISD numbers at a specified time during the day and leave the connection on without saying a word. At the end of the day, the member gets a commission of about 10 per cent of the call bill.
Over the past month such operators made a huge amount of money by just making calls. The commission is transferred to them through the hawala channel or through official money transfer systems.
The modus operandi came to light during a surveillance operation by the UP ATS team while monitoring calls made to satellite numbers, in search of possible terrorist sleeper cells.
MiD DAY found a website and account details of two operators who made innumerable calls throughout the day to international numbers in the Arabian Gulf and Europe, and found that the caller made regular calls to a list of numbers at the same time every day.
Each group has a series of numbers from two or three countries and a given time frame for making calls. The money is transferred within 15 days through specified channels.
There are a series of satellite numbers that are on the list, as traffic generated on satellite phones earns more revenue.
During investigations, the UP special squad learned that the four accused who were apprehended had earned Rs 44 lakh in just 12 days for making these calls. The money was transferred to them through hawala channels.
They made calls to satellite phones in Afghanistan, Pakistan and many countries in Europe.
Senior Superintendent of police Rajeev Sabharval, UP ATS, said, "We were intercepting calls being made to satellite phones in neighbouring countries. We arrested four accused in the case and suspect they may have terror links."
He added, "The accused managed to procure SIM cards with an unlimited ISD facility illegally. Since then, they had made several international calls and also calls were made to satellite phones of Inmarsat."
These call transactions run into several crores and in turn incur losses to the Indian service providers. As the privileged cards are procured illegally without providing any documents or verified details, the companies are unable to trace the culprits.
A senior executive of a telecom service provider said, "It's a big racket and they must be earning a huge amount. Even if a person has made a call costing Rs 100, he must be getting at least Rs 10 as commission and easily earns a huge amount on a daily basis."
He added, "When an ISD call is made, we have to pay the foreign telecom service company for the service as our servers switch calls over to their servers. Thus the foreign servers get heavy traffic and make good money as well."
Sabhraval added, "There are a number of ways that these people make money illegally. Every operator is given a user name and he can track all calls made and claim his cut accordingly.
Also they get these cards without any proper documentation with the help of an insider from the service providing company to get an unlimited ISD facility."
Rajeev Sabharval, UP ATS, said, "During the investigation in the Lucknow case, we found that the SIM cards used to make calls were provided by a Mumbai man. Even in the Delhi and Kanpur cases, the SIM cards were provided by the Mumbai man, who is at large."
While the case in Lucknow was detected in January this year, a similar scam was busted in Delhi in 2009.
The common link in both cases was that the SIM cards were sourced from Mumbai.
In June 2009, five people, including an NRI, were arrested in Kanpur as part of a multi-crore scam.
The CBI had investigated the case and found that the accused tampered with computers of a telecom service provider to make international calls and operate chat lines.
They made calls to Congo, Sierra Leone and Somalia on some premium rate numbers. And hence subscribers of these international numbers were getting huge payment by telephone operators without paying at the caller's end.
According to investigators, this unidentified Mumbai-based man not only sourced the international and satellite numbers, but also procured and provided the privileged SIM cards to the calling squad.
He also selected and appointed calling squads in cities across the nation, including Kanpur, Lucknow and Delhi.
The modus operandi of the latest scam to hit the country involves making ISD calls, generating traffic for service provider, earning money through hawala. This scam emerged after an Uttar Pradesh ATS team arrested a gang of four for making calls to satellite numbers from Azamgarh.
The scam is as simple as it gets, and that is what makes it far more lethal. Here's how it works: A phone operator provides a list of international numbers to a member of a calling squad.
This member is also provided with a 'privileged' SIM card that he uses to make ISD calls.
All that the member has to do is dial the ISD numbers at a specified time during the day and leave the connection on without saying a word. At the end of the day, the member gets a commission of about 10 per cent of the call bill.
Over the past month such operators made a huge amount of money by just making calls. The commission is transferred to them through the hawala channel or through official money transfer systems.
The modus operandi came to light during a surveillance operation by the UP ATS team while monitoring calls made to satellite numbers, in search of possible terrorist sleeper cells.
MiD DAY found a website and account details of two operators who made innumerable calls throughout the day to international numbers in the Arabian Gulf and Europe, and found that the caller made regular calls to a list of numbers at the same time every day.
Each group has a series of numbers from two or three countries and a given time frame for making calls. The money is transferred within 15 days through specified channels.
There are a series of satellite numbers that are on the list, as traffic generated on satellite phones earns more revenue.
During investigations, the UP special squad learned that the four accused who were apprehended had earned Rs 44 lakh in just 12 days for making these calls. The money was transferred to them through hawala channels.
They made calls to satellite phones in Afghanistan, Pakistan and many countries in Europe.
Senior Superintendent of police Rajeev Sabharval, UP ATS, said, "We were intercepting calls being made to satellite phones in neighbouring countries. We arrested four accused in the case and suspect they may have terror links."
He added, "The accused managed to procure SIM cards with an unlimited ISD facility illegally. Since then, they had made several international calls and also calls were made to satellite phones of Inmarsat."
These call transactions run into several crores and in turn incur losses to the Indian service providers. As the privileged cards are procured illegally without providing any documents or verified details, the companies are unable to trace the culprits.
A senior executive of a telecom service provider said, "It's a big racket and they must be earning a huge amount. Even if a person has made a call costing Rs 100, he must be getting at least Rs 10 as commission and easily earns a huge amount on a daily basis."
He added, "When an ISD call is made, we have to pay the foreign telecom service company for the service as our servers switch calls over to their servers. Thus the foreign servers get heavy traffic and make good money as well."
Sabhraval added, "There are a number of ways that these people make money illegally. Every operator is given a user name and he can track all calls made and claim his cut accordingly.
Also they get these cards without any proper documentation with the help of an insider from the service providing company to get an unlimited ISD facility."
Rajeev Sabharval, UP ATS, said, "During the investigation in the Lucknow case, we found that the SIM cards used to make calls were provided by a Mumbai man. Even in the Delhi and Kanpur cases, the SIM cards were provided by the Mumbai man, who is at large."
While the case in Lucknow was detected in January this year, a similar scam was busted in Delhi in 2009.
The common link in both cases was that the SIM cards were sourced from Mumbai.
In June 2009, five people, including an NRI, were arrested in Kanpur as part of a multi-crore scam.
The CBI had investigated the case and found that the accused tampered with computers of a telecom service provider to make international calls and operate chat lines.
They made calls to Congo, Sierra Leone and Somalia on some premium rate numbers. And hence subscribers of these international numbers were getting huge payment by telephone operators without paying at the caller's end.
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