Delhi cops crack down on shady call centers scamming Americans
DELHI, INDIA — In a major bust, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell raided two illegal call centers in the towns of Naraina and Dwarka that were running tech support scams targeting American victims.
The Naraina Center, which has been operating for over six years by the trio of Mohit Bansal, Shubham Bansal, and Puneet Sehgal, employed mostly school dropouts and graduates to pose as tech support representatives of big online commerce platforms in the U.S.
Using platforms such as MicroSIP, X-Lite, and Google Voice, scammers cold-called Americans and tricked them into making fake payments. They were also reportedly shifting the location of the call center within the Delhi NCR region to avoid being tracked by the police.
Another scam factory in Dwarka, run by Sachin Yadav, Shashank Bharatwal, and Jagjeet Singh, used similar tactics while impersonating U.S.-based utility providers.
In both raids, 48 people were detained and 26 were arrested as police seized laptops, cellphones, and Rs 23.5 lakh (US$28,300) collected through fraud. The crackdown came on a tip-off about illegal centers potentially duping U.S. residents.
Delhi Police continues to warn citizens to watch out for shady cold calls asking for sensitive financial information.
This current raid is part of India’s operations to stop fake call centers and tech support scams. Last December, the Delhi Police raided a fraudulent call center that was scamming American citizens under the guise of a travel agency offering discounted airfares.
Tech giants Microsoft and Amazon have also pledged their support to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to combat tech support scams and conduct raids on illegal call centers nationwide.
