Fake Apple tech support call centre that duped US residents busted in Delhi

The Delhi Police busted a fake Apple technical-support call centre in Naraina Industrial Area, west Delhi, which duped US residents, police said on Wednesday. The accused posed as Apple executives, told US residents that their devices had viruses or pornographic content, and tricked them into buying gift cards to resolve the purported technical issue.

Seven people, including the alleged owner and his partner, have been arrested, police said.

“The call centre was being operated under the name ‘Veptra’ from a building in Naraina Industrial Area Phase-2. It was busted following specific information received on September 25. The accused were apprehended during a raid,” a police officer said.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were targeting people in the US through fake technical-support calls. We are examining the digital evidence and financial transactions to identify the complete network and trace the money trail,” said deputy commissioner of police (West) Hareshwar V Swami.

Police said the callers assumed Western names while speaking to people in the US. During examination of the seized laptops, investigators found software including Eyebeam, UltraViewer and AnyDesk, besides call histories containing US-based numbers.

The callers allegedly obtained gift-card codes from victims after convincing them that the cards were required to fix the purported technical problem and then passed the codes to others associated with the operation, police said.

The accused were identified as Arun, 29, the alleged owner of the call centre, Salim, 28, his alleged partner, Nikhil, 30, Karan, 28, and Vishal, 29, all one names, and Montu Singh, 34, police said. A 26-year-old man who was one of the accused was not identified.

An Audi A3 car, five laptops, 12 mobile phones, 10 credit/debit cards, five cheque books, two routers and six headphones were recovered from the premises, police said.

A first information report was registered at Naraina police station on September 26 under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by impersonation), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the IT Act.

Police are now investigating the source of the toll-free numbers, the people supplying them, gift-card transactions and the associated money trail. Investigators are also analysing the seized digital devices to ascertain the roles of each accused and identify others linked to the operation, DCP Swami said.