Mumbai Police Cracks Down on International Loan Scam
The Mumbai Police have successfully dismantled a sophisticated fake call centre operating from a rented row house in Mulund. The operation, which was busted on Tuesday, led to the arrest of five individuals for allegedly defrauding hundreds of US and Canadian nationals by offering them bogus short-term loans.
The Modus Operandi: A Well-Rehearsed Scam
Acting on a specific tip-off, a team from the Mulund police station raided the premises in the Mulund Colony area. Senior Inspector Ajah Joshi revealed that the group, led by a man named Sagar Gupta, was posing as officials from a US-based lending organization called "Lending point".
The accused used international e-SIM cards to send out mass messages and voice mails to potential victims across the United States and Canada, promising immediate loan approvals. Of the 200 messages sent, approximately 100 people would call back. Sagar Gupta, who was trained to speak with an American accent, would then handle these calls.
To build trust, the scammers presented fake loan approval documents, each with a unique application number. They initially asked for a processing fee of 90 to 100 US dollars, after which they would extract more money from the victims under various pretexts.
Surat Connection and Replication of a Fraudulent Model
During interrogation, a startling connection to a previous scam emerged. Police discovered that four out of the five arrested accused had previously worked at a similar fraudulent call centre in Surat. Having learned the tricks of the trade, they decided to replicate the successful model in Mumbai.
Earlier this month, they rented the row house in Mulund for ₹23,000 per month to set up their illegal operation. A police officer added that crucial resources, including the customer database and the international e-SIM cards, were supplied by the owner of the Surat-based call centre, whom the authorities are now actively searching for.
Police Action and Seizures
Following the raid, the police arrested the five individuals and seized significant evidence from the location. The recovered items include:
- Two laptops
- Eleven mobile phones
- Two routers
- ₹76,000 in cash
Zonal DCP Rakesh Ola emphasized the organized nature of the scam, which relied on fabricated documents to appear legitimate. The accused were produced before a local court on Wednesday and have been remanded to police custody for further investigation.
