Call centre duping US citizens with loans busted in Idar, 11 arrested

Palanpur: The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) has busted an international call centre racket operating from Idar town of Sabarkantha district that allegedly duped American citizens of large sums through fraudulent payday loan schemes and cryptocurrency laundering.Acting on specific intelligence, a team led by inspector R K Karamta conducted a late-night raid at an office located in the premises of Gangajal Mineral Water Plant on Barvav Road in Idar. Karamta said the police had received inputs that a person named Gulamgosh alias Rider Sabirbhai Qureshi, a resident of Ahmedabad, was running an illegal call centre from the first floor of the building for the last nearly two years. The team of cops climbed over a locked iron shutter to enter the premises and found multiple people working on laptops in separate cabins. Upon questioning, the main accused allegedly admitted to operating the illegal call centre.Investigations revealed that the accused targeted US citizens by offering fraudulent payday loans. Victims were asked to pay processing and other fees through Apple and Walmart gift cards. The gift card codes were then allegedly routed to handlers in China and Hong Kong, who converted them into USDT cryptocurrency after deducting commission. The funds were subsequently converted into Indian currency and transferred through hawala channels. "The people involved in the racket are mostly Class 12 passouts who have earlier worked in some call centres and were well-versed with communicating with foreign citizens. They used to launder around Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per week," Karamta told TOI.Karmata added that they mostly offered payday loan, is a short-term, high-interest lending sought to meet urgent expenses until the borrower receives their next paycheck.During the raid, police seized 12 laptops worth Rs 2.25 lakh, 40 mobile phones valued at Rs 7.45 lakh, routers, headsets, ATM cards, accessories, Rs 40,590 in cash and a vehicle.Ten accused, including the kingpin Rider and a supervisor handling dialers and closers, were handed over to Idar police for further investigation. Eleven more persons, including foreign-based data providers and cryptocurrency converters, have been declared wanted.A case has been registered under applicable sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.Police said the racket was part of a well-organised international cyber fraud network involving data suppliers, call agents, crypto converters and hawala operators. A special investigation team (SIT) headed by deputy superintendent of police (DySP), Himmatnagar, AK Patel has been formed to go into the depth of the case.