In a major crackdown, the Athwalines police in Surat busted a fraudulent call centre on Saturday, arresting five individuals, including two women, for their involvement in a massive loan scam that defrauded 300 victims of a staggering Rs 45 lakh.
The accused had set up a Facebook page under the name ‘Ranga Reddy’ to lure individuals seeking loans. They would collect sensitive personal details, including bank details, addresses, and mobile numbers of prospective borrowers. The main operator of this fraudulent network was based in Mumbai.
According to the police, they received an anonymous tip-off and raided a call centre operating in Maher Park. During the raid, police discovered five suspects working on phones and laptops to carry out the scam. The arrested individuals were identified as Viren Barne, Rahul Baviskar, Ashish Pal, Rutuja Patil, and Puja Rathod.
Upon interrogation, the accused explained their operations. After gathering personal details of loan seekers via the Facebook page, they would forward the information to Ravindra Saluja, a Surat-based accomplice. Saluja would then verify the data and pass it on to Satinder Pal, the Mumbai-based mastermind.
Satinder Pal would then instruct the victims to maintain a minimum balance in their bank accounts and provide an OTP (One-Time Password) for loan approval. Using the OTP, he would transfer money from the victims’ accounts to his own.
The police seized 13 mobile phones, four laptops, and a Wi-Fi router from the premises. They also recovered WhatsApp chats with 18 victims and a list of customers that were targeted next.
Inspector H K Solanki confirmed the arrest and noted that the initial investigation revealed at least 300 people had been cheated of Rs 45 lakh. Police have charged seven individuals under the BNS Act and the IT Act for their involvement in the scam, and further investigations are underway.
