Kolkata: An illegal call centre allegedly targeting foreign customers through VoIP calls was busted at SLS Tower in Salt Lake Sector V on Tuesday night, with police detaining 103 tele-callers and arresting 14 men after questioning, officials said.
The call centre operators allegedly posed as technical support, loan and e-commerce service providers to dupe overseas customers. Investigators suspect victims were cheated through fraudulent gift-card transactions.
Police seized several computers, laptops and mobile phones from the premises, which had allegedly been operating for around three months.
The 103 tele-callers detained during the raid included 13 women. Following interrogation, police arrested 14 men allegedly involved in running the operation. The remaining detainees were being questioned as part of the investigation, officials said.
The premises have since been secured and investigators are probing the operation to identify other members of the alleged network and determine the scale of the fraud.
Police are also examining the electronic devices seized during the raid and the manner in which calls were routed through VoIP systems to target customers abroad.
“Further investigation is underway to establish the identities of the alleged masterminds, trace the flow of money and ascertain whether the call centre was linked to other similar operations,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police.