Fake call centre busted in Mumbai, 11 arrested

MUMBAI: Police have busted a fake call centre in suburban Ghatkopar and arrested six women and five men for allegedly duping people by posing as executives of banks and other firms to settle their loan dues, an official said on Thursday.

After conducting a probe into a complaint of a 61- year-old Mumbai resident, the police raided the call centre on Monday and seized 132 SIM cards, 11 computers and seven mobiles from the premises, he said.

The call centre was operating since April last year and the accused, taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegedly cheated people who had taken loans from banks and other financial companies by obtaining their details, the official from Shivaji Park police station said.

They would call the borrowers by posing as executives from these firms and offer to settle their loans for much less than the outstanding amount, he said.

Last month, the complainant, who had taken loan from two firms, approached the police alleging that he was duped of Rs 39,200.

He said since his earnings came down due to the lockdown, he sought a moratorium on loan repayment.

According to the complainant, in November last year, a person called him and offered to settle his dues worth Rs 34,000 for Rs 17,500.

After the complainant agreed, the caller sent a person to his house to collect the amount.

Later, the complainant asked the caller to help in settling his another outstanding loan of Rs 1.4 lakh.

The caller offered to settle it for for Rs 21,700. Subsequently, he sent another person to the complainant's house to collect the cash, the official said.

However, last month, a representative of a financial company from where the complainant had taken loan came to his house to ask for the dues.

The complainant showed him the settlement letter and it was later found later that he was duped by fraudsters, the official said.

Later, the police managed to nab one of the accused who had collected money from the complainant, he said.

Based on information provided by the accused, the police raided the call centre and nabbed 10 other people, the official said.

A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections, the police added.