Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal on Thursday, dismissed media reports that the city has emerged as a hub of fake call centres.
“There was a report that a large number of fake call centres are operating out of Kolkata with a daily translation of ₹3000 crore. I think this is absolutely nonsense. We don’t know from where this figure has come out. Nobody from Kolkata Police has come out with the figure. We would strongly refute such information,” Mr. Goyal told journalists at Lalbazar Police headquarters.
“There was a report that a large number of fake call centres are operating out of Kolkata with a daily translation of ₹3000 crore. I think this is absolutely nonsense. We don’t know from where this figure has come out.”Vineet Kumar GoyalKolkata Police Commissioner
The City Police Commissioner, however, admitted that there are a few call centres which have been raided and closed. “We have been very vigilant and will not like such industry to continue here. So far, we have raided 16 call centres and arrested 93 people,” he said. Mr. Goyal expressed surprise over claims that fake call centres make a business of ₹3,000 crore per day. “How can somebody arrive at the figure. I think 16 call centers and 93 arrests is not a large number,” the Commissioner said. Mr. Goyal was referring to a news report on an online news portal describing the metropolis as the newest, biggest scam zone of the country.
Chinese loan apps a new challenge
Mr. Goyal, however, added that Chinese loan applications have become a challenge for cyber-crime not only in the city but also across the country. The Commissioner pointed out that the Chinese loan application in the form of links either on social media or WhatsApp, takes control of the phone once the app is downloaded. He explained that the hackers access contacts on the cell phone, morph photographs and ask for money from the person who may just be on the contact list. “ Our investigation is not about the person taking the loan but he inadvertently sharing all his contacts to scamsters. Say, I have 200 contacts on my phone and they ( scamsters) have the ability to navigate these contacts. They have the phone number and they download and morph profile pictures and subsequently send messages that your contact has taken loan and if you don’t pay then we are going to share your morphed picture,” he explained.
Senior officials stated that according to the city police, this network of loan applications is operating across the country and also outside of India. Kolkata Police is investigating 24 such cases. “In many cases people do not report it to the police,” he said. The Commissioner also informed that the city police will soon start a process so that citizens can report cyber-crime online.
