The Ahmedabad city police have apprehended a 27-year-old man from Juhapura, Sohil Parvez Rashid Parvez Shaikh, who despite having only a 10th-grade education, was defrauding American citizens using his fluent English.
Sohil ran a home-based call centre, operating between midnight and 5 am, where he communicated with approximately 30 Americans daily. He offered assistance and loan services, duping his victims by presenting fake bank letters of loan approval. Payments were received in the form of dollar-denominated gift vouchers as commissions.
During a police raid, Sohil was caught mid-conversation with an American citizen. A search revealed a laptop and three phones in his possession. Under interrogation, Sohil revealed his association with Habib Sheikh, a former call centre operator from Rakhial, Ahmedabad, who had since relocated to Delhi. Habib had supplied Sohil with an application containing data of 150 to 200 Americans, which facilitated his fraudulent activities.
Despite moving his call centre operations to Delhi-Noida, Habib continued to provide data to individuals like Sohil in Ahmedabad. An investigative team is set to be dispatched to Delhi to identify the individuals involved in this illicit operation and trace the source of the American citizen data.
Funds obtained from the American gift vouchers were deposited into Habib’s account in Delhi, from where he transferred the proceeds to Sohil via Angadia (courier service). Over a span of four months, Sohil received a commission of Rs. 6 lahks, all facilitated through Angadia.
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