Navi Mumbai Police Bust Fake Call Centre Targeting US Citizens; 13 Detained, 255 SIM Cards Seized

Navi Mumbai, August 18, 2026: The Navi Mumbai Police Cyber Cell has busted a fake international call centre operating from Mahape MIDC and allegedly targeting US citizens through a sophisticated cyber fraud scheme. Thirteen people, including a manager, three team leaders and nine call agents, were detained during the raid.

Police seized 5,301 USDT cryptocurrency worth around Rs 5.03 lakh, besides 255 SIM cards, two servers, two SIM boxes and other equipment.

The action was carried out at around 11 pm on August 13 at Unit No. 24 in Mahape MBP, where the call centre was allegedly being operated under the name TradeExpert Services. Acting on a tip-off, a team led under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner of Police Vishal Hire and Senior Police Inspector Vishal Patil raided the premises.

Fake Apple Support Calls

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were posing as Apple technical support representatives and bank officials to gain the confidence of US citizens. They allegedly threatened the victims with loss of money and then induced them to transfer funds to cryptocurrency wallets or purchase Apple gift cards,” said Senior Police Inspector Vishal Patil.

During the raid, police found nine agents communicating with US citizens on computers, while four others were allegedly supervising them. The accused were subsequently taken into custody and questioned.

According to the police, the accused sent fake messages to Apple users in the US claiming that $499 had been deducted from their bank accounts. The messages asked the recipients to contact a given number if they had not authorised the transaction. When victims called the number, the calls were allegedly routed to the call centre through an app.

The agents allegedly introduced themselves as Apple technical support representatives and claimed that a virus called “Chompi” had infected the victims’ mobile phones, putting their bank balances at risk. The calls were then allegedly transferred to team leaders posing as bank representatives using American names.

Victims Allegedly Threatened

The team leaders allegedly frightened the victims by claiming that their money was at risk and persuaded them to transfer funds to cryptocurrency wallets purportedly to keep the money safe. The gang also allegedly duped victims by making them purchase 16-digit Apple gift cards.

The arrested accused have been identified as manager and partner Parth Bharatbhai Patel (27); team leaders Jabeen Jacob Balumal alias John (28), Naim Harun Sheikh alias Tom (46) and Sameer Farid Sheikh (31); and call agents Dennis Pinto, Dev Dhotre, Ashish Dulakedi, Darshan Rawat, Karan D’Souza, Govind Mandero, Arun Acharya, Rizwan Sheikh and Rehan Khan. The ages of the nine call agents were not provided by the police.

Police Seize Cryptocurrency, Equipment

Police seized 5,301 USDT cryptocurrency valued at approximately Rs 5,03,595, six mobile phones, 255 Vodafone-Idea SIM cards, two SIM boxes, two servers, two CPUs, one laptop, nine cheque books and printed English scripts allegedly used to communicate with victims.

The alleged masterminds of the operation — Mustafa Khan, his wife Zareen, and their associates Purvank Shrimali alias KR, Iggy and Sheikh Bhai — are absconding. Police have launched a search for them. Their ages were not available.

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“Further investigation is underway to identify the extent of the fraud, the number of victims and the financial transactions involved. We are also tracing the absconding accused and examining the digital evidence seized from the premises,” Patil said.

Police Inspector Vishal Patil is conducting further investigation into the international cybercrime operation.

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