Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 24: The Crime Branch (unit 12) arrested four individuals on Saturday for running a fraudulent call centre in Borivali (West) that targeted US citizens by offering fake computer software repairs.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the third floor of Arpan Apartment, an unfinished building at Amarkant Jha Marg, Vajira Naka. Authorities seized six laptops, 20 phones, two routers, and six speaker headphones from the site.
The arrested suspects Akshat Surana, Abhishek Gupta, Dipen Dhanwani, and Tilak Joshi are currently in police custody. Officials confirmed that Surana, Gupta, and Joshi have previous criminal records, while Dhanwani is a first-time offender.
The investigation revealed that the scammers sent deceptive pop-up messages to US citizens, alerting them to fake software issues and providing a toll-free number for assistance. When victims called, the accused impersonated Microsoft representatives, tricking them into sharing banking details under the guise of fixing their computers. This led to financial fraud, with money being siphoned from their accounts.
Police are now probing the extent of the scam and tracking the money trail to uncover potential international links.