Noida: A gang allegedly defrauded hundreds of people during the past six months.The gang, which operated a call centre in Sector 138 to target US citizens with promises of instant loans at low interest rates, has been uncovered. Three members have been arrested.The gang, which obtained personal data of foreign nationals from Chinese vendors through Telegram, cheated more than 2,000 people of over Rs 2 crore, according to a preliminary investigation, DCP (Central Noida) Shailendra Singh said.Police are tracking foreign data suppliers and financial handlers.The suspects sent fake loan sanction letters to convince victims that their loans had been approved. They demanded processing fees ranging from $50 to $200, collecting the money in the form of vouchers.Those arrested include Mansuri Rashid, a resident of Sarkhej Road in Ahmedabad; Tarun Mishra, a resident of Manjh village in Mount Abu; and Chandrakant, a resident of Kakarmath Road in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. Nine computers, a router and four mobile phones have been seized.The accused used applications to make payments in cryptocurrency, including USDT, to the vendors for the data. They then contacted the foreign nationals on the phone numbers provided to them and offered loans even to people with poor credit scores.They forwarded the vouchers to Chinese vendors, who returned 30-40% of the proceeds to the gang as commission through applications in USDT. The suspects received their share of the cryptocurrency in India through hawala channels.A case has been registered against the accused under sections 319(2) (cheating by personation), 318(4) (cheating) and 3(5) (joint criminal liability) of BNS; sections 66-C and 66-D of IT Act; and Section 42(3) of Telecommunications Act at Sector 142 police station.ADCP Swatantra Kumar Singh said police are examining the mobile phones along with the Telegram accounts of the accused and applications.Investigators are focusing on the Chinese vendors who supplied the data and helped facilitate the movement of the proceeds.Police have also found indications that the accused may have used another method to target foreign nationals.They posed as FBI or US police officials and carried out scams resembling the “digital arrest” frauds reported in India.The police are verifying this aspect of the investigation and examining the digital evidence recovered from the call centre.
