Bogus call centre operating from 3 flats busted in Gurgaon, 20 held

GURGAON: A total of 20 people were arrested after police raided a bogus call centre operating from three flats on the same floor in a housing society in Sector 33 of Sohna with the arrest of 20 people.
The centre targeted foreign nationals by offering fraudulent tech support for $100 to 500.
The call centre, which was operational for the last three months, is the ninth to have been busted this year.
On the intervening night of Aug 23-24, Inspector Madan Lal from Cyber South police station received a tip about the illegal operation at Flat A-20, A-21, and A-22 in Flora Avenue, Sector-33 Sohna. Under the initiative "Operation Endgame" by the cyber police, the raiding team discovered the centre.
The accused lured victims with pop-up ads with toll-free numbers that connected to their VOIP system. They then posed as technicians from a reputed company, obtained remote access to the foreign nationals' computer systems using the Ultra Viewer application, and convinced them that their computer was hacked.
Victims were then coerced into buying gift cards worth 100-500 US dollars, which were redeemed and converted into cryptocurrency.
Cops seized 16 laptops, 25 mobile phones, and 50,000 rupees from the suspects.
A case has been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319 (punishment for cheating) of BNS and sections 43 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer), 66 (computer-related offences), 66D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource), and 75 (act to apply for offence or contravention committed outside India) of the IT Act at Cyber Crime South police station.
Mahendra Singh, the manager of this call centre, has also been arrested, cops said.
The arrested people include Ashish Ojha from West Bengal, Minlun and Vikhombou Chawang from Manipur, Vidanwang, Namchumbo, Maobe Sangtam, and Achele from Nagaland, Labboi Haokip, Athihri Lohri, and Minbaite from Manipur, K. Lalbikzuali from Mizoram, Shreya and Palak from Jammu & Kashmir, Mahendra Bajrang Singh from Gujarat, Manish Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh Gurung, Vinod Sharma, and Shiv Bahadur Thapa from Nepal, and Monu Kumar from Delhi.