Indo-Canadian arrested over India call centre scams

TORONTO: Another Indo-Canadian man has been arrested and charged in connection with Indian call centre scams targeting Canadians. AbhinavBector, 25, of Brampton, Toronto, has been charged with fraud over C$5,000, possession of proceeds of crime and laundering of the proceeds of crime. He will appear in court next month.

The police said that the India call centre frauds have cost Canadians over C$34 million since 2014. Bector is the latest suspect to be arrested in these scams. In October, Naman Grover of the city of Mississauga was arrested.

Arrest warrants have also been issued against three other absconders — Bindisha Joshi (41), VimalShrestha (41) and Thomas Pao (25).

According to police, call centrescamsters target Canadians by posing as representatives of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), banks, immigration and tech support agencies.

They scare people into paying money or parting with their financial/credit card information immediately or face action.

The scamsters have also recruited local individuals as 'money mules' to receive money from their victims and then launder it to them. These include Indian students coming on study visas. Grover was a 'money mule' for the scamsters. Canadian investigations into India call centre scams began under 'Project Octavia' in October 2018. (IANS)

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