The Mulund police have busted a fake international call centre operating from a residential flat in Mulund West, arresting five people who allegedly duped citizens in the United States and Canada by posing as officials of a US-based bank offering payday loans. According to the police, Senior Police Inspector Ajay Joshi of Mulund police station received a tip-off from confidential sources about a racket being run in the Mulund Colony area, where individuals were extorting money from foreign nationals under the guise of loan processing.

A police team laid a trap and conducted a raid at the location, where they found that Sagar Gupta was running a fake call centre with four operators. The accused impersonated officials of an organisation named LendingPoint, contacting citizens abroad through international e-SIMs and virtual numbers to offer instant “payday” loans. The arrested individuals include Sagar Gupta, Abhishek Suryaprakash Singh, Shailesh Shetty, Tanmay Kumar Singh, and Rohan Mohammad Hussain Ansari.