The Panchkula Cyber Crime Police Station has claimed to have busted an organised interstate cyber fraud racket that was allegedly operating a fake call centre from Delhi and duping people on the pretext of insurance policy maturity.
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Fake Call Centre Used Insurance Policy Pretext
According to police, the accused allegedly impersonated officials of reputed insurance companies and contacted victims over phone. They are accused of sharing accurate details of victims’ policies to gain their trust before convincing them to transfer money in the name of final premium instalments and tax payments.
The case came to light after a resident of Kalka was allegedly cheated of ₹1,97,500. The victim was first asked to deposit ₹98,000 as the final instalment and later ₹99,500 as tax into different bank accounts. After growing suspicious, the victim contacted the concerned company’s office in Chandigarh and found that he had been duped. A complaint was then lodged on the cyber portal, and a case was registered on April 9.
Seven Arrested, Phones and Bank Documents Recovered
Police said seven accused have been arrested in the case. Nine mobile phones, 10 cheque books and 10 ATM cards were recovered from their possession.
DCP Crime and Traffic Amarinder Singh said the cyber crime team, led by in-charge Yudhvir Singh, traced the network using technical inputs during the investigation. Police found that the racket was allegedly being operated from Delhi using fake SIM cards, rented bank accounts and a call centre setup.
Acting on the leads, a police team led by investigating officer Abhishek Chhillar conducted a raid in Delhi on April 27 and arrested four accused, identified as Amandeep Singh alias Aman, Gurdeep Singh, Ashichandra Gupta and Tanzeer Ansari.
Police Warn of Organised Cyber Fraud Networks
During interrogation, the involvement of three more accused surfaced. The three, identified as Ejaz Haider, Kartavyapuri and Suraj, were already lodged in Sunaria Jail, Rohtak, in another case and were brought on production warrants for questioning, according to a police official.
Police said Ejaz Haider is a resident of Uttar Pradesh, while Tanzeer Ansari belongs to Bihar. The remaining accused are residents of Delhi, and all of them were jointly running the fake call centre.
The four arrested accused have been sent to judicial custody, while the other three have been sent back to Sunaria Jail. Panchkula Police Commissioner and ADGP Cyber Sibash Kabiraj said cyber fraudsters are increasingly using organised methods to exploit personal data, but police are committed to tracking and dismantling such networks. He said strict legal action would be taken against those targeting citizens’ hard-earned money and urged people to remain vigilant against such scams.
