PANAJI
Goa continues to witness an alarming proliferation of fake call centres targeting citizens, particularly in the United States, with police dismantling nearly a dozen such operations in the year’s first half.
The latest back-to-back crackdowns in Calangute and Anjuna, which led to the arrest of 34 persons and seizure of electronic equipment worth nearly Rs 50 lakh, have once again indicated the coastal State has increasingly become a preferred operational base for international cyber fraud syndicates.
Police records show that these raids have resulted in the arrest of nearly 100 accused, most of them from outside Goa, while sophisticated digital infrastructure, vehicles and electronic equipment worth Rs 1.5 to 2 crore have been seized.
Besides these two locations, police have raided fake call centres operating from Mapusa, Saligao, Dona Paula, St Inez, Verna Industrial Estate, among other places, with records showing that the racket has rapidly expanded across North and South Goa.
“In most of these cases, the accused targeted US citizens, particularly elderly persons, by impersonating loan company executives, bank officials, medical insurance representatives and technical support personnel. Victims were allegedly manipulated into purchasing gift cards or transferring money on the promise of instant loans, medical benefits or technical assistance,” one of the investigating officers revealed to The Goan as a few are expected to be chargesheeted shortly.
Police further said the operations exposed a strikingly consistent modus operandi across the cases. The accused allegedly relied on VoIP technology, VPN services, Google Voice platforms, Eyebeam software and sophisticated networking infrastructure to mask their identities while operating from Goa.
“Most of the call centres functioned between 8 pm and 8 am, synchronising their operations with business hours in the United States to target victims more effectively,” the official said.
The latest Anjuna raid revealed yet another variation of the fraud, where the local police found that the syndicate specifically preyed on elderly Americans enrolled in a federal medical insurance programme, allegedly exploiting them under the guise of medical assistance before carrying out financial fraud.
The latest arrests continue a sharp rise witnessed over the past three months alone.
On March 27, Cyber Crime Police raided a rented bungalow in Khorlim, Mapusa, and arrested seven persons allegedly operating under the name "Payday", seizing digital equipment worth Rs 21 lakh.
Barely a month later, police dismantled three separate fake call centres, with Saligao Police cracking down on such offences, while the Crime Branch followed up with simultaneous raids at Dona Paula and St Inez, arresting 19 persons and recovering assets worth nearly Rs 95 lakh.
In May, police busted another illegal call centre operating from Verna Industrial Estate, arresting 26 persons allegedly posing as bank employees to cheat American citizens. “The accused deliberately choose isolated villas, vacant residential properties and commercial premises where suspicious activity is unlikely to attract public attention. Many of the accused arrested so far belong to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, suggesting that Goa is increasingly being used as an operational hub rather than merely the location of isolated frauds,” the official added.
Director General of Police Alok Kumar had directed all police stations, the Crime Branch and the Cyber Crime Cell to intensify intelligence gathering on fake call centres and launch coordinated action against such syndicates.
