Chandauli, 1 Oct (HS): According to police, a call centre was reportedly

aimed at elderly Japanese citizens

by deceiving them into grantingaccess

to their computers and mobile devices

and draining significant amounts of money. Police reported that five individuals have

been apprehended and approximately Rs 9 lakh in two bank accounts belonging to one of the suspects has been frozen.

“They primarily focused on senior Japanese individuals.” They reached out to them via

Zoiper (an internet calling software) and screen-sharing tools, earned their

trust, and then contaminated their computers or smartphones with malware to

siphon off significant amounts of money,” stated Additional Superintendent of

Police (Sadar) Vikram Dahiya.

The defendant reportedly utilized OTPs sent to the victims' devices to acquire their banking information. The funds were

subsequently moved to bank accounts in Japan or China

and returned to India via hawala networks, Dahiya stated.

The police are currently following the financial

trail to find out where the alleged

fraud's proceeds, amounting to crores of rupees, were

directed, he stated.

The call center functioned from the third

level of a showroom structure located in Kailashpuri,

Mughalsarai. On Wednesday, a combined

force of the Mughalsarai police, SWAT, surveillance, and

cyber units conducted a raid at the location following a case that was filed on

September 29, according to Dahiya.

The gang reportedly utilized tourist venues in Gaya to engage with

Japanese tourists. The manager of the call centre, one of the five detained, had

acquired Japanese language skills and reportedly

impersonated a Japanese citizen when communicating

with victims. They would getcalls from

Japan using the Zoiper app

and carry out the scam between 7 am and 2 pm, Dahiya stated.

Authorities have identified the detained

individuals as Raunak Singh (32), the call centre manager, along with employees Roshan Kumar (21), Aman Kumar (23), Ankit Kumar (25), and Vikas Vaibhav (25), all hailing from

Bihar, but the kingpin is still absconding.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi