The police busted a major fake call centre racket on Monday, and 33 fraudsters were arrested for impersonating Amazon Customer Service executives and cheating customers from the US. The prime accused, identified as a Gujarat native, headed the team that included eight women. Interestingly, the Colvale premises where the team operated belonged to a politician.
Goa has become a haven for fraudsters operating fake call centres, betting dens and other illegal activities because of the easy accessibility to premises. Over the past two years, several fake call centres have been busted by the police, with a common thread of foreign nationals being targetted from rented premises.
In November 2022, a fake call centre at Ribandar was raided, and six were arrested. During the same month, another fake call centre was unearthed at Chinchwada in Chimbel. In June 2022, a call centre was found operating at a rented bungalow at Old Goa, and in October 2021, one was running from a hotel at Gauravaddo, Calangute. Add to this the many cases of police busting betting syndicates operating from rented premises across Goa, leave alone cases of other illegal activities.
While the police are still ascertaining the damages in terms of currency lost by US nationals in the Colvale operation, the owner of the rented premises, Tarak Arolkar, maintained that he did not check on the business done inside the premises. It has been a common argument by owners to wash their hands of the crime.
Lately, the government has been insisting on the registration of rented premises with the tourism department, but that does not help solve the problem because if the owner can't take responsibility for operations inside the premises, the situation will be no different for the department. Therefore, registering premises will only help maintain a database, nothing beyond that.
Secondly, Goa's success rate with cyber crimes has been pathetic, with no convictions recorded in recent times. Data shows 23 cases registered under cyber crime in 2021, 70 cases in 2022 and 13 cases up to March 2023. Most of these cases are still "under investigation," with only a few marked as "final summary submitted". This is disappointing, to say the least, and speaks volumes of the State's failure against such crimes.
Cyber crimes are steadily rising across India, and Goa is no exception. Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse by the day. We encounter online fraud in various formats -- from fake QR codes to misleading links that wipe off bank deposits of gullible citizens. Director General of Police Jaspal Singh, while speaking at Goa Police Ideathon 2022 held in December last year, feared that cyber crimes would increase in Goa with the launch of 5G services. The State will certainly hook on to the info-tech bandwagon and see a quantum leap in connectivity over the years. We must brace up and tie loose ends to catch up with fraudsters.
While agencies should be equipped to face emerging challenges with quick response teams and technology upgrades, individuals renting out premises must also be held accountable for the crime at their properties. Unfortunately, for now, cybercriminals are on top of their game.
