Nagaland Police has finally succeeded in nabbing two masterminds of the infamous call centre scam that was busted in August this year and reported by Nagaland Post on September 10.
IT professional duo of Ajit Kumar Ray and Anirban Gupta, who the police claim to be the masterminds in the case, were arrested from Kolkata by a team of Dimapur Police and they are currently in Dimapur Police remand. Addressing reporters at East Police station on Monday, DCP-Zone 1, Naieem Mustafa said that fraudulent activities were going on in the garb of a call centre between sixth and seventh mile. A total of 20 people consisting mainly of youngsters in their 20s were arrested.
Of the 20, four were the handlers who did all the ground works and 16 were diallers who were made to call up American citizens and trap them into a settlement. Police said the diallers knew they were posing as IRS officers but were assured by the managers that it was a “normal procedure” to the get work done.
Police identified the four handlers as– manager Amit Bhowmick (24 years) who was earlier arrested in a similar case and was out on bail, Michael Tenzin (25) and Shouvick Bhuyan (24) who “closed the deal” with the victims, and a local businessman Bernard Angami who provided the financial and infrastructural support of setting up the call centre.
Out of the 20 arrested six were female. All of 16 diallers were currently out on bail while the four handlers were still in police custody. DCP (Zone-II) Vishal told reporters here on Monday that the call centre operators made Rs. 35 lakh in two-and-a-half months. Stating that Nagaland had a young population that spoke good English, he warned job-seekers to check the history of a company before applying for jobs. He said that these “new age criminals” had a vast network in the Northeast.
Vishal said criminal like those arrested in Kolkata and Dimapur use codes that have to be redeemed and money flows through hawala channels. They use high tech methods of communication to ensure minimal digital fingerprint, he added. The scam involved call centre operators who impersonated as officials of US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or individuals offering payday loans while calling potential victims, using information obtained from data brokers and other sources.
A team of the Dimapur Police raided the call centre on August 16 evening where the call centre executives were arrested.
According to ACP (A division) and I/O, Temsunochet Changkija, the team used a software that left voicemails on the phones of tax defaulters asking them to call a certain number to avoid harrowing legal procedures. When the defaulters called in, the calls were received at the call centre in sixth mile. The agents who were the first line of communication posing as IRS agents, were given a script to lure them into a settlement. While many in the US were aware of such fraudulent calls and ignored them, some fell into the trap.
These victims were then transferred to the second line of communication; Michael Tenzin (25) and Shouvick Bhuyan (24) who then bargained with them to pay an amount via codes obtained through gift cards on itunes and Google play. The manager Amit then passed the codes to two “managers” based in Kolkata.
Sub-Inspector, East Police Station, Joseph said the arrest of the masterminds was not easy as the duo kept changing locations. They were finally tracked down using their internet footprint. Decoys were engaged and a reconnaissance was carried out before the duo was arrested, police said.
Sources also stated such covert and dubious call centres were functioning from metro cities, besides North-eastern cities like Guwahati and Shillong.
Meanwhile, Dimapur police has appealed to the public to report any activities or firms that are suspicious and to be vigilant and conduct checks before applying for jobs, and asked the people to also approach the police in case they need help.