Lucknow: The cyber crime cell and cyber police station of the Lucknow commissionerate have busted an illegal call centre operating out of Vibhuti Khand and arrested five people for allegedly duping job seekers across India with fake placement offers in reputed companies.The accused were arrested during a raid at the fourth floor of JS Tower on June 12. Police seized 11 keypad phones, two smartphones, an HP laptop, 102 data sheets and 26 forged documents, including fake appointment and approval letters.Those held have been identified as Zeeshan Khan (30), Satish Pal (23), Sonali Chaurasia (19), Shivani Verma (21) and Neelu Verma (19).Police said the action followed analysis of cybercrime data and intelligence on illegal call centres involved in online fraud. Investigations revealed the gang targeted unemployed youth and fresh graduates by posing as recruiters for firms such as Amul, Amazon, Infosys, Flipkart, Mankind Pharma, Suzuki, Parle and Cipla.Verification of seized mobile numbers and IMEI details on the national cyber crime reporting portal showed over 60 complaints from across the country, involving fraud worth several lakhs.ADCP, crime, Kiran Yadav said the kingpin procured data of job aspirants from employment portals. “The accused used the purchased databases to contact candidates through callers employed at the call centre. Once a candidate expressed interest in securing a job, the call was transferred to senior operators who posed as recruitment executives. The fraudsters allegedly lured victims by offering high-paying jobs in reputed multinational and domestic companies. To gain credibility, they sent forged appointment letters, approval letters and registration documents through WhatsApp,” said the ADCP.Victims were then asked to transfer money under various pretexts, including registration and verification charges.Police are contacting complainants to ascertain the full scale of the fraud. Citizens have been advised to report cyber fraud on helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.
