Mira Road: Police have arrested four individuals for allegedly operating a bogus call centre from Mira Road and defrauding US citizens

The arrests followed a raid on a flat in the Tayra Hills building near Western Hotel on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. Acting on credible intelligence, a crime branch team of Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) Police led by police inspector Aviraj Kurade raided the premises and apprehended the suspects identified as Iban Meesam Sayyed (29), Nayab Meesam Sayyed (32), Mehdi Hasan Taqvi alias Faizan (29), and Michael Aral Cinder (26), all residents of Mira Road.

Commenting on the operation, Kurade said, “We received a tip-off about a fake call centre operating from Mira Road and cheating foreign nationals. Our team acted swiftly and found that the accused were posing as Amazon representatives and duping US citizens under the pretext of resolving unauthorized activities on their accounts.”

According to police, the accused would contact Amazon customers in the US and claim that suspicious activity had been detected on their accounts. Victims were then coerced into buying gift cards, allegedly as a method to ‘secure’ their accounts. Once the 16-digit codes were received, the fraudsters used their network to redeem the gift cards, siphoning off the funds.

“This was a well-organised setup with the use of laptops, mobile phones, routers, and specialized software to appear convincing to their targets,” Kurade said, adding “The gang exploited fear and urgency to extract sensitive information and commit financial fraud."

The police seized digital equipment worth approximately Rs 3.8 lakh during the raid, including laptops, smartphones, and internet routers. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita and the Information Technology Act at the Kashigaon Police Station.

“We are investigating further to trace their associates and understand the full scale of the operation. International cyber fraud is a serious offense, and we are committed to dismantling such networks,” Kurade said.