A call centre operating at Durgapur city, in league with a counterfeit agency, had consistently been defrauding mainly US citizens in the name of tech-support impersonating as antivirus providers for months and the cyber PS officials busted the gang yesterday.
The cyber PS today took six of the 13 accused in five days remand today. The persons, as the police said, “In collusion with other international gangs defrauded several US citizens posing as tech support providers.”
“They used to impersonate as authorized antivirus company representatives and make international calls using laptops and we intercepted the gangsters acting on a credible tip-off yesterday evening,” said Arvind Anand, deputy commissioner of police (Headquarters), Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate. He added: “We’ve seized 12 laptops raiding the rented accommodation at City Centre.” During the raid, the cyber police found that 13 persons were busy making international calls using laptops and headphones. The accused mainly hailed from Park Street and Beniapukur in Kolkata, the police said.
The police now want to unearth more links to help trace other associates and international gangs behind this.
The new scam, as explained by one cyber expert, forms a popup warning about the user’s computer being infected with some virus and offering popular antivirus programme at cheaper prices to trap common users.