Daijiworld Media Network - Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, Jul 14: A house in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad was converted into a fake Flipkart call centre from where a cyber fraud gang allegedly targeted online shoppers across at least five states by posing as customer support executives. Police have arrested six persons, while two others remain absconding.
The racket was unearthed during a raid on the house in the Shakti Khand area following intelligence received through a cybercrime portal.
The arrested accused have been identified as Raju Kumar, Aditya, Virat Chaudhary, Ashish, Pankaj Sharma and Khushi. Police are searching for two other alleged members of the gang, Kajal and Siddharth.
During the operation, police recovered 10 mobile phones allegedly used in the fraud and seized Rs 20,010 in cash.
According to investigators, the gang has cheated Flipkart customers of around Rs 2.5 lakh so far, although officials suspect the actual amount could be higher as additional complaints are being examined.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed that the racket's mastermind, Siddharth, supplied them with data of Flipkart customers from Bihar.
Using the stolen customer information, the gang allegedly contacted shoppers, claiming that their online payments had failed or were still pending. Victims were then persuaded to make fresh payments or share payment details on the pretext of verification, reimbursement or order confirmation.
Police said the investigation has linked the gang to cyber fraud cases involving victims in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana. A case registered in Cyberabad, Telangana, has also been connected to the racket.
Officials said the IMEI numbers of the seized mobile phones matched several cyber fraud complaints registered across different states.
Investigators are analysing the recovered digital evidence to identify other members of the network, trace the bank accounts used to receive the fraud proceeds and uncover additional fraudulent transactions.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Indirapuram) Surya Bali Maurya said the fake call centre was busted based on intelligence received through a cybercrime portal.
He added that the seized digital devices were being examined to establish links with other cybercrime cases, while efforts were continuing to apprehend the remaining accused.