Thane, Mar 15 (PTI) Police have busted a bogus call centre in Navi Mumbai that allegedly cheated people of more than Rs 1 crore by promising high returns through share market trading and arrested two persons in this connection, officials said on Sunday.
Based on a tip-off, the police’s financial intelligence and cyber units conducted a raid on March 12 at the call centre operating at an industrial area in Mahape under the Rabale MIDC police station limits.
“During the raid, 22 young men and women were found working at the premises and communicating with potential victims through WhatsApp chats and phone calls using computers,” the Navi Mumbai police said in a release.
The premises were operating under the name of a share market research company and the staff allegedly contacted individuals claiming to provide investment opportunities in intraday and equity stock trading, they said.
“Chats recovered from the computers showed that victims were promised higher returns if they invested in the stock market through the company, and they were asked to transfer money to bank accounts shared by the operators,” the police said.
Preliminary investigation suggested the call centre had allegedly defrauded people of at least Rs 1.02 crore by sending payment links and directing victims to transfer money to the company’s as well as 18 other bank accounts, the release said.
Police also checked the bank accounts linked to the call centre on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and found that at least five cyber fraud complaints from across the country were connected to the accounts, it said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Shivam Vinodkumar Dubey (29) and Sujit Masicharan Warimiki (30), both residents of Thane district, the release said without specifying their affiliation with the call centre.
Another accused was absconding and efforts were underway to trace him.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the release added. PTI COR GK
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