Pune Police Crack Down on Illegal Call Centre Defrauding US Citizens
Pune, 27th November 2025: The Koregaon Park police on Wednesday claimed to have dismantled an illegal call centre that was allegedly cheating US citizens by offering fake low-interest loans. Five people, including a woman, were arrested during an early-morning raid at a flat in Lane No. 6 of Koregaon Park. Police also seized five laptops and ten mobile phones.
Police Inspector Sangita Jadhav said, “We arrested a 24-year-old woman from Nagaland, a man from Meghalaya, and three men from different parts of Pune. They were operating an illegal call centre from this flat. During preliminary questioning, the suspects revealed that they had been running the operation for the past month.”
The raid was carried out by Sub-Inspector Shrikant Chavan and his team, with assistance from cyber experts, following a tip-off. Officers found the suspects using laptops and mobile phones on dining tables and sofas inside the apartment.
Inspector Jadhav added, “We are examining the seized laptops and phones. Once the analysis is complete, we will understand the scale of the operation, including the amount of money involved and the number of victims.”
According to the police, the suspects maintained a database of US citizens with poor credit scores. “They would contact these individuals, offering loans at supposedly low interest rates. Everything was pre-scripted,” said Jadhav. “If the person showed interest, the suspects would record their banking information and PIN. These details were then sent to handlers, who are believed to be operating either from the National Capital Region or abroad in the US. The handlers would then siphon off money from the accounts.”
Jadhav noted that not every person contacted fell victim. “The suspects reportedly earned 10 US dollars from their handlers for each successful target,” she said.
Police are now working to trace the handlers and follow the money trail to uncover the full extent of the fraud.
