Mumbai: In a major crackdown, the Crime Branch's Unit 8 has busted a fake call center operating in the Malad area and arrested 14 individuals involved in the scam. The accused were running an illegal forex trading business without any permissions. They allegedly duped people abroad by asking them to download a mobile application and then transferred money into their own accounts through this app.
According to the information provided by the Crime Branch, they had received a tip-off about a fake call center linked to forex trading being operated in the Malad area. Following the lead, a police team leaded by incharge police inseptor Laxmikant Salunkhe raided Quantum Tower in Malad. During the raid, they found 14 people working at the call center, all of whom were taken into custody. The accused were operating under the name "Contact Infotech" and claimed to represent VFX Markets. They convinced victims to install a mobile application, through which forex trading would begin. However, even though the app showed that money was being invested in forex trading, the funds were not actually being processed. Victims were unable to withdraw any money from their accounts, leading to financial losses.
The police are now investigating how the accused obtained the contact numbers of the victims who invested in forex trading. They are also looking into who supplied them with these numbers. Additionally, the authorities are probing how many people have been defrauded by this call center so far. As part of the raid, the police seized two laptops, 16 desktop computers, two mobile phones, and documents related to the crime, worth an estimated ₹2.6 lakh.
An FIR has been registered against the accused under sections 316(2), 316(5), 319(2), 318(4) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, along with sections 25(k) of the Indian Telegraph Act and sections 66(k) and 66(d) of the IT Act.