The Ramol police have arrested Dhruvesh Thakkar, a 24-year-old BSc graduate, for running a high-tech call centre scam—right from his smartphone. What made the case stand out was the unique scale of the operation: a ‘pocket-sized’ mobile call centre without any physical office or infrastructure.
Thakkar ran his con while sitting at tea stalls, pan shops, or any public space with internet access. According to Inspector VD Mori, the accused, along with three accomplices, used shady apps purchased from the dark web and VPN rerouting to appear legitimate to foreign victims.
The scam targeted US citizens, offering them cheap loans at extremely low interest rates. The catch was a “processing fee” the victims had to pay upfront, which went directly to the scammers.
Thakkar, fluent in English and confident in his pitch, converted his smartphone into a full-fledged scam tool using five illegal apps, turning it into a mini call centre with zero overhead costs.
Police said they were amazed by the creativity and technical execution of the fraud, noting that Thakkar believed his stealthy operation was “too smart to be caught.” But it ultimately unraveled thanks to diligent cybercrime tracking.
