Kanpur, Sep 8 (PTI) A fake call centre allegedly targeting people in the UK struggling with unsecured debts was busted in Kanpur’s Jajmau area, with 11 employees detained for questioning, a top official said on Tuesday.
Acting on intelligence inputs, a joint team of the Cyber Crime, SWAT and local police raided the centre on Monday evening and found seven men and four women working there.
Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI that the call centre was operating from two rooms in Zamzam Tower, a three-storey building in the KDA colony. The rooms had allegedly been rented for Rs 18,000 a month.
The operators posed as debt-resolution agents and targeted UK residents facing loan defaults and other financial difficulties. They allegedly offered
to help the victims through Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), a formal UK debt-resolution mechanism, and claimed that a substantial portion of their liabilities could be written off, he added.
Once a potential victim was “matured”, the case was allegedly transferred to Yuvraj, who runs a call centre in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar under the name Eternity Infotech, Lal told PTI further.
Lal said the Kanpur centre prima facie appeared to be linked to a call centre earlier busted by Lucknow Police.
Information about the fake call centre and suspected link has been shared with Lucknow Police and intelligence agencies, and their assistance has been sought to ascertain Yuvraj’s role and whether Eternity Infotech or any other related call centre had operated in Lucknow in the past or is still functioning, he said.
Police identified Abdul Wahid, a graduate who had previously worked with Niftel and ZA Connect, as the alleged operator of the Jajmau call centre.
He was allegedly hired by Yuvraj for a monthly salary of Rs 40,000, police said.
The other male employees were identified as Hasan, Satyam, Aamir, Tabish, Farooq and Rahul. The identities of the four women were not disclosed.
Police said the centre had a structured recruitment and salary system, with employees allegedly being paid between Rs 15,000 and Rs 40,000 a month directly into their bank accounts. They were allegedly provided computers, calling scripts and training to speak in a British accent and handle potential victims.
The employees were also allegedly trained to avoid questions that could reveal that the calls were being made from India.
If UK residents asked whether they were calling from India or Pakistan, they were instructed to evade the question, police said.
The centre had reportedly started operating about two months ago and had no licence, registration or other documents to establish it as a legitimate business, police said.
The raid continued late into the night, with police questioning the employees and examining documents, call records and other material recovered from the premises.
A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police said the investigation was underway to establish the exact mechanism used to identify, approach and allegedly defraud UK residents and to ascertain the centre’s links with the Lucknow operation. PTI COR KIS NB NB
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