CHENNAI: A gang of 12 persons, which had been running a fake call centre in Thirumullaivoyal and cheating people out of their money by offering quick online loans at low interest rates during the pandemic, was busted by the Anti-Bank Fraud wing of the Central Crime Branch on Tuesday.
According to sources, the prime accused, Gopi Krishnan (30) of Villivakkam, had been arrested last year on similar charges and detained under the Goondas Act. “However, he came out on bail a few months ago after his detention was quashed by a court. We thought that he would not resume the fake call centre and cheat people. But, he did resume the fraud with a different set of employees,” a police officer said.
Speaking on their modus operandi, a senior officer said, “The employees of the call centre would call people and offer them loans on very low interest rates. They would say that the loans would be arranged within five minutes and that the borrowers could repay after the pandemic ended.
After convincing people, they would ask for a sum of money as surety or GST so that they could approve the loan. On receiving the money, the callers would switch off their mobile phones.” The fraud came to light after one Selvaraj lost a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh which he paid as surety for a Rs 9 lakh loan. Selvaraj complained to CCB, following which a team raided the call centre and arrested the gang.