Fake Call Centre Scamming Canadians Busted In Ahmedabad, 4 Arrested

In a late-night operation on Monday, the Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch raided a residential property in Chandkheda, uncovering a sophisticated illegal call centre dedicated to defrauding Canadian citizens. The scam involved impersonating Canadian tax officials to siphon funds through gift cards and unauthorised bank access.

Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Inspector SR Zala raided a residence at Sopan Heights, where the syndicate was actively operating.

The accused used a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) software called EyeBeam to mask their location and appear as legitimate callers. They would contact people in Canada, posing as officers from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

To build trust, they would acquire the target's name, address, and postal code. They then spun a web of lies, informing victims that unauthorised withdrawal requests had been made from their Tax-Free Savings Accounts at the Royal Bank of Canada.

When the targets denied making such requests, the scammers would claim their IP address was compromised and they were victims of "identity theft." The targets were then directed to contact a fake representative of FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada), where they were ultimately coerced into transferring money via gift cards as a "processing" step.

Recruitment And Criminal Network

The investigation revealed that the operation was orchestrated by a man named Falgun Patel, who is on the run along with an associate, Shivang Dashmana. Patel allegedly managed a network of call centres across locations, hiring staff on a salary of Rs 20,000 per month, plus incentives.

Officials said Kush Shaileshbhai Patel (29), a resident of Chandkheda, Harsh Sumanbhai Patel (28), a resident of Ghatlodia, Ashu Pravinbhai Patel (29) from Naranpura, and Sunil Kamalsingh Rawat (28) from Usmanpura have been arrested. Harsh had also been arrested in 2025 for operating a similar illegal call centre in Udaipur, and Sunil has confessed to running an illegal call centre in Chandigarh with Falgun Patel.

Police have seized six laptops, five mobile phones, and four specialised phones valued at approximately Rs 1.9 lakh.