Fake Call Centre Busted in Sambhajinagar; Mastermind “Faruqi” Arrested in Goa
Sambhajinagar
Police in Sambhajinagar uncovered a fake call-centre defrauding U.S. citizens by posing as tax-officials; chief suspect Abdul Farooq Mukadam Shah alias “Faruqi” was arrested in Goa.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar |30 October, 2025: A major cross-border scam has been dismantled by the city police of Sambhajinagar following the raid on a fake international call centre said to be defrauding American citizens. The operation, led by inspector Geeta Bagwade and her team, executed a sting on Tuesday night in the MIDC-CIDCO area.
Investigators say the call centre was functioning like a business-process operation. Its workers impersonated U.S. Internal Revenue Service officials, threatened victims with fabricated tax liabilities and forced them into payments via gift cards, Western Union transfers or cryptocurrency. Laptops seized from the site contained scripts, fake court orders and money-laundering trails.
Key to the bust was the arrest of Abdul Farooq Mukadam Shah alias Faruqi — the suspected mastermind — who was apprehended in Goa early Wednesday morning. Over 100 suspects have already been detained, and digital evidence is being analysed to trace the deeper network.
Police say the racket operated via Voice-over-Internet-Protocol calls, masked IP addresses and rapid conversion of funds into crypto-assets to thwart detection. “This was not a local scam—it had global reach,” said DCP Prashant Swami.
Authorities are now widening the probe, issuing alerts to U.S. agencies and banking-partners. Local businesses and banks have been asked to remain vigilant, especially in the run-up to the festival season when such scams tend to spike.
