Hyderabad-based fake call centre duping US citizens busted
Hyderabad: Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) busted a fake call centre which was found to be involved in defrauding US citizens following a raid at a Madhapur building on Wednesday evening.
According to Shikha Goel, Director, TGCSB, Gujarat-based persons Kaivan Patel and Rupesh Kumar alias Jaddhu from Gujarat were allegedly operating the fake call centre under the name Exito Solutions in Hitec City with assistance from Rupesh’s brother Vickey, based in Dubai, and another associate, Azad.
The prime suspect, 36-year-old Chanda Manasvini, had established a company by renting a floor in the building to run the call centre a few months ago. The call centre employed 63 people, including 40 from Northeastern states. The company offered a monthly salary of Rs. 30,000 along with the incentives such as transportation and accommodation to their employees, she added.
The call center would target foreign nationals, particularly US citizens. Impersonating PayPal representatives, the tele-callers would call the potential victims and falsely inform them of unauthorized transactions in their accounts.
Through calls and fraudulent emails with fake customer support numbers, the US citizens were tricked into revealing sensitive financial information and personal data, including banking details such as credit/debit card numbers, CVVs, OTPs and other sensitive credentials.
“All tele-callers were fluent in English and trained to manipulate victims. They were aware their activities were illegal,” said an official.
Using these details, the company staff would transfer money into designated bank accounts. Each caller was tasked with duping at least 10 people daily, targeting an average of 600 victims, leading to theft of thousands of dollars.
“On average around 600 people were targeted by the tele callers and an amount running into thousands of dollars was siphoned from their accounts and transferred into mule accounts,” the TGCSB director added that the stolen money was later converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to other digital wallets.
Authorities believe some individuals provided PayPal customer data to Chanda Manasvini, enabling the fraud. They said that a manhunt has been launched to nab Rupesh Kumar, who could provide more information about their modus operandi.
During the raid, the police team seized 52 laptops, 63 mobile phones, and 27 employee identity cards. Meanwhile, the TGCSB has advised employees working in any company to report any illegal activities at their workplace to the authorities on the helpline number 1930 and avoid getting caught in the legal troubles.
Hyderabad-based fake call centre duping US citizens busted
Hyderabad: Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has busted a fake call centre which was found to be involved in defrauding US citizens following a raid at a Madhapur building on Wednesday evening.
According to TGCSB… pic.twitter.com/Eh5J09E9xy
— Hyderabad Mail (@Hyderabad_Mail) March 6, 2025
