Arnala to Australia: 53 held at fake call centre by sea

MUMBAI: A ground-plus-two storey resort-cum-farmhouse near Rajodi beach in Virar (west) turned out to be a call centre where young men and women from different states had been employed to carry out phishing scams by targeting victims in Australia. Thirteen women and 40 men, including resort owner, Mayur Patole, were arrested on Saturday during a raid carried out on the fake call centre by officials of Arnala police station.
It is still to be ascertained whether the owner was the mastermind of the call centre or she had rented out space. The crackdown continued till early on Sunday. The men and women were caught making internet calls and sending emails to bank accounts linked to an online payment platform in Australia. As the time difference between India and Australia is over four to five hours, the employees got down to work in the evenings and made their calls throughout the night. Those working at the call centre were from outside the state - Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
The police said preliminary investigations revealed that the call centre had come up in the past few months. While the beach is surrounded by resorts, including illegal ones, the call centre had come up at a distance from the beach. While the offices with computers and internet connections were set up in six to seven rooms, the other rooms were used by the employees to stay.
The employees were found to be working on their computers and making their calls at leisure. They were found wearing informal clothes like shorts and t-shirts.
The employees, when questioned, claimed to be unaware of the call centre being illegal. The police said they are looking for the agency that had hired the men and women from other states.
The employees told the police they were lured with good salaries and accommodation. The police have recovered around Rs 20 lakh from the call centre. All the computers and stationery have been seized by the police.