Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar cyber police have sought a five-day remand of the six accused who were arrested Wednesday for allegedly running a fake call centre here to cheat people, a police officer said.
Police said all the accused were produced in a local court Thursday which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.
The accused, all from West Bengal, have been identified as Sameer Mobin (26), Md Javed Hussain (26), Md Tosif (23), Faizan Alam (24), Shaaib Raza(22) and Md Haider Ali (34), police said.
Six laptops, 11 mobile phones, routers and cables were seized from their possession during a raid by Bhubaneswar cyber police.
Briefing reporters, Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra said, “We have requested the court to allow us five-day remand of the accused to get more details from them. Some investigation agencies have also contacted us to interrogate them.”
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Police are currently working to identify the local contacts in Odisha who helped the accused to operate a fake call centre. Investigations are also underway to determine how many people have fallen victim to the gang and the extent of the fraudulent activities involved, he said.
The seized electronic devices have been sent for forensic analysis and a police team will be dispatched to Kolkata to verify the suspects’ details.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were sending fake emails to both national and international clients who had subscribed to various antivirus software, posing as customer care representatives for two antivirus companies.
Additionally, police discovered that the six accused were using laptops and mobile phones to make and receive calls from US citizens via Skype.
“During interrogation, Haider Ali, the leader of the fake call centre, disclosed that his team was involved in sending fraudulent emails to clients, impersonating as customer care agents and providing fake phone numbers to induce customers into making fraudulent transactions. This operation reportedly generated a monthly income of Rs 1 lakh for the gang,” another police officer said.
PTI