Telecalling is becoming a big business. The accused duped loan seekers in the United States (US) through telecalling and amassed around Rs 3 crore.

Call Center Fraud

Hardik Parmar, Mahesh Giri, Kushal Patel, and Yashesh Barot were running the call centres since about 18 months. They had recruited around 72 employees at their centres named Planet BPM Pvt Ltd that had offices in Alkapuri and Race Course areas. The accused admitted of making nearly Rs 1.5 lakh profit every month.

The company acquired database comprising the contacts of loan seekers in the US from online vendors. Their executives called US nationals under the garb of representatives of noted American loan companies like Paid for America and Net Loan. They promised to provide loans without any bank credits or documentation. In order to get the loan, customers were required to pay a service charge between $100 and $400.

The customers were required to buy a Green Card Money voucher from Walmart for paying the service charges. They had to inform the call centre executives about the 16-digit number on the card, using which the accused diverted the funds to the company’s Visa Card account. After the money was transferred to the accused, the telephone numbers were rendered untraceable.

Promoters of the call center hired educated individuals with good spoken English and trained them to speak like Americans