Gurgaon: The sham Apple service centre busted in Palam Vihar on Sept 1 did not wait for victims to call. Its operator first screened targets in the US, checked whether they were above 60 and had substantial bank balances, and sent warning messages about privacy, virus or technical problems in their iPhones.The elderly victims, with little technical knowhow, were then funnelled into calls where impersonators invoked a bogus Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notice and demanded $10,000 to $20,000 to fix the issues — amounts far exceeding the price of a brand new iPhone.The operation allegedly began with messages routed through a server controlled by Jai Kakkar, a Delhi resident who police have identified as its operator. The messages directed recipients to a toll-free number connected to the Palam Vihar call centre. Police have so far traced transactions worth $200,000 (around Rs 2 crore), which was fleeced from 15 US citizens allegedly targeted over eight to 10 days.The scam then involved two stages. A less experienced caller first posed as an Apple customer care executive, telling the victim that their device had a problem. Once the victim was convinced, the call was transferred to a senior posing as a banker. The second caller allegedly produced a fake FTC notice and used the threat to demand payment.“The first caller, who would often be less experienced, would establish contact by posing as an Apple executive. Once the victim was convinced, the call was transferred to a caller posing as a banker, who would introduce the fake FTC notice and make the payment demand,” an officer said.Police said victims were asked to transfer the money to a foreign bank account. In some cases, they allegedly obtained gift card or voucher numbers. Callers at the centre received commissions of 11% to 16% for each successful scam.The profiling was central to the operation. “The gang checked if potential targets were senior citizens and had substantial bank balances. The elderly usually have less technical knowledge,” a senior officer said. Police are still trying to establish the source of the database and how the accused obtained such information.Police said an examination of laptops seized from the centre showed the initial messages were routed through the operator’s server. One laptop contained data from the previous 10 days, while other details had been erased or shifted elsewhere. “An average of 40 calls were made on a daily basis,” an officer said.The bogus service centre had come up in a house in J block of Palam Vihar. A 14-member team under ACP (cyber) Gaurav Fogat and SHO (Cyber West) Sombir arrested 11 persons and seized nine laptops, 20 mobile phones, two headphone-and-mic sets, two cars, a motorcycle and a scooter. Police said X-Lite Dialler and Apple FaceTime were used to communicate with victims.Kakkar is yet to be traced. Police searched his Model Town house but did not find him. “The source would be unearthed once Kakkar is arrested. Teams are working to trace him and the money trail,” a police source said. Police are also checking his alleged role in an earlier Delhi cheating case and alleged links to other cybercrime operations.
