Seven held in Goa for running fake call centre to dupe US citizens

Panaji, Jul 19 (PTI) Seven persons were arrested for allegedly running a fake call centre from a hotel in north Goa, a police official said on Friday.

The arrested persons hail from states like Gujarat, Assam, Nagaland and Rajasthan, he added.

"The police raided a hotel in Calangute and busted the call centre, leading to the arrest of seven persons. They were impersonating staffers of various loan firms, e-commerce sites, banks and government agencies to dupe US citizens. They made voice calls and induced victims into transferring money," said Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Rahul Gupta.

He identified the accused as Vishal Vaghela (34, Baroda, Gujarat), Acharya Balkrishna (28, Ahmedabad, Gujarat), H Puloto Awomi (20, Nagaland), Dhananjay Singh (27, Rajasthan), Chunjang Lung Rongmei (31, Assam), Inovi Zhimomi (21, Nagaland) and Vikito Kiho (21, Nagaland).

They were charged under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act for unlawful activity, impersonation, fraud and other offences, the SP said.

Four laptops, one TP-Link router and a D-Link switch were recovered and further probe was underway, he added. PTI RPS BNM