Mohali: Police have busted a fake call centre operating from the first floor of a house in Sector 78 and booked seven persons for allegedly running an international cyber fraud racket that cheated foreign nationals by impersonating Apple and Microsoft tech support executives.Acting on a tip-off, a joint team from the operation cell and the Sohana police station, led by inspector Satvinder Singh, raided the premises. Investigators suspect the racket is involved in a multi-crore scam, though the exact amount stolen and the total number of victims are still being verified.Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused sent fraudulent pop-up alerts to the computers, laptops, and mobile phones of foreign nationals, warning them of non-existent technical errors. The alerts prompted victims to call a displayed helpline number, where the accused used scripted conversations to pose as tech support representatives.After convincing the victims that their devices were compromised, the accused persuaded them to install remote access software. Once they gained control of the devices, they coerced the victims into making payments via gift cards and cryptocurrency under the guise of fixing the technical issues.The arrested accused have are Pawan Kumar of Mohali; call centre manager Jatinder Kachhwaha of Okhla, Delhi; Shubham Arora of Ludhiana; Ashish Gosain and Neeraj Bisht, both of Dehradun; Shivam Thakur of Ludhiana; and Dalip Kumar of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Several unidentified individuals have also been named in the FIR.A case has been registered at the Sohana police station under Sections 318, 319(2), 308(2), 3(5), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), alongside Sections 66 and 66D of the Information Technology (IT) Act.Police have seized electronic devices and digital evidence from the spot, which are currently being examined along with linked financial transactions to trace the money trail and map out the full extent of the international network.
