Mumbai: Simply dialing an international number has been making millionaires out of ordinary men. This is the latest scam that has emerged after an Uttar Pradesh ATS team arrested a gang of four for making calls to satellite numbers from Azamgarh.
The scam is as simple as it gets, and that is what makes it far more lethal. Here's how it works: A phone operator provides a list of international numbers to a member of a calling squad.
This member is also provided with a 'privileged' SIM card that he uses to make ISD calls. All that the member has to do is dial the ISD numbers at a specified time during the day and leave the connection on without saying a word. At the end of the day, the member gets a commission of about 10 per cent of the call bill.
Over the past month such operators made a huge amount of money by just making calls. The commission is transferred to them through the hawala channel or through official money transfer systems.
Prized catch
The modus operandi came to light during a surveillance operation by the UP ATS team while monitoring calls made to satellite numbers, in search of possible terrorist sleeper cells.
During the course of the investigation, the name of a Mumbai-based kingpin has emerged. However, both the UP ATS and the Mumbai police are tight-lipped about progress of the ongoing investigation.
MiD DAY found a website and account details of two operators who made innumerable calls throughout the day to international numbers in the Arabian Gulf and Europe. We found that the caller made regular calls to a list of numbers at the same time every day.
Each group has a series of numbers from two or three countries and a given time frame for making calls. The money is transferred within 15 days through specified channels. There are a series of satellite numbers that are on the list, as traffic generated on satellite phones earns more revenue.
Tip of the iceberg
During investigations, the UP special squad learned that the four accused who were apprehended had earned Rs 44 lakh in just 12 days for making these calls. The money was transferred to them through hawala channels. They made calls to satellite phones in Afghanistan, Pakistan and many countries in Europe.
Senior Superintendent of police Rajeev Sabharval, UP ATS, said, "We were intercepting calls being made to satellite phones in neighbouring countries. We arrested four accused in the case and suspect they may have terror links."
He added, "The accused managed to procure SIM cards with an unlimited ISD facility illegally. Since then, they had made several international calls and also calls were made to satellite phones of Inmarsat."
Huge losses
These call transactions run into several crores and in turn incur losses to the Indian service providers. As the privileged cards are procured illegally without providing any documents or verified details, the companies are unable to trace the culprits.
A senior executive of a telecom service provider said, "It's a big racket and they must be earning a huge amount. Even if a person has made a call costing Rs 100, he must be getting at least Rs 10 as commission and easily earns a huge amount on a daily basis."
He added, "When an ISD call is made, we have to pay the foreign telecom service company for the service as our servers switch calls over to their servers. Thus the foreign servers get heavy traffic and make good money as well."
Sabhraval added, "There are a number of ways that these con artists make money illegally. Every operator is given a user name and he can track all calls made and claim his cut accordingly.
Also they get these cards without any proper documentation with the help of an insider from the service providing company to get an unlimited ISD facility."
Hawala
The word hawala comes from the Arabic root h-w-l, which has the basic meanings 'change' and 'transform'. The word 'hawala' is defined as a bill of exchange or a promissory note. It is also used in the expression hawala safar, traveller's check. When the word came into Hindi and Urdu it retained these meanings, but it also gained the additional meanings 'trust' and 'reference', which reflect the manner in which the system operates. Furthermore, in popular usage, hawala is often used to refer to any sort of financial crime, particularly money laundering or fraud.
How the con works
- Operators in Mumbai procure privilege cards of different service providers and issue them to their calling squads.
- They are also provided a list of numbers to call.
- The members of this calling squad do not have to pay for the privilege cards and in return they create call traffic for the Foreign Service Providers.
- The caller gets a fixed percentage for making these calls.
- The Indian service provider has to pay the foreign telecom company for the ISD service.
- That money is directed to the satellite phone user and in return a commission is forwarded to the calling squad based in India.
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