2 more fake call centres that scammed foreign nationals dismantled in Mohali
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Mohali: Just five days after Mohali police busted two fake call centres with the arrest of eight persons, the Range Anti-Narcotics-cum-Special Operation Cell dismantled two more high-tech scam hubs masquerading as call centres in Phase 7, Mohali.
The bust, which led to the arrest of 10 persons, has unveiled a sprawling international fraud network suspected to have siphoned off nearly Rs 50 crore from unsuspecting foreign nationals.
Manchanda Tower's double life
Behind the glass façade of Manchanda Tower, two floors buzzed with illicit activity. The first floor housed a sinister operation exploiting PayPal, Amazon, and Bitcoin alerts to instill fear and extract money.
The third floor posed as a travel agency — MS Waynva Travel Pvt Ltd — but was anything but legitimate.
First Floor: The Crypto Conspiracy
A tip-off received by inspector Darbara Singh triggered a swift raid on the first floor. There, police apprehended Manmeet Singh Banwait, the alleged kingpin, along with five operatives: Anmol Malhotra, Jasneet Kaur, Armita, Gurpreet Singh, and Vugsam Hungyo alias Sam.
DSP (Cyber) Rupinderdeep Kaur Sohi said the accused targeted foreigners by sending fake email alerts impersonating PayPal, claiming fraudulent transactions involving Bitcoin purchases.
Victims were tricked into calling toll-free numbers generated via the Exlite app, where scammers warned them of alleged account hacking and illegal activity.
The calls were then 'transferred' to fake bank representatives who convinced victims to buy Apple gift cards or transfer money through cryptocurrency. The funds were later converted to cash via hawala channels in India.
Third Floor: The Travel Trap
Simultaneously, another team stormed the third floor, uncovering a parallel scam under the guise of MS Waynva Travel Pvt Ltd.
Five more suspects — Morya Nath alias Christopher (Aerocity, Mohali); Ishwar Kumar (Swaraj Enclave, Santemajra, Kharar); Rinchen Vinayal (GBP Kharar); Dolly Kumari (Shivalik City, Kharar) — were arrested, accused of orchestrating travel-related cons targeting foreigners.
The team seized 4 CPUs, 4 headphones, and 5 mobile phones from the location.
The accused lured foreign nationals via a website (trialpro.com), advertising low-cost air tickets.
Once contact was established, they obtained the victims' debit and credit card details and charged them using illegally obtained payment gateways. The victims never received any tickets, and the accused siphoned off the money in Indian currency after commission deductions by the gateway operators.
A bigger network
All accused were produced before a local court and remanded to one-day police custody. Police said further interrogation is underway to uncover the wider network involved in these international scams. Police have not ruled out the possibility of involvement of more accomplices, including payment gateway handlers and hawala operators. Investigations are ongoing.
The recovery: 5 laptops, 5 headphones, 9 mobile phones, One Toyota Fortuner, one Honda Jazz (Mohali number), and one Hyundai Verna (Delhi number) used in the operation.
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