Police said the call centre was functional for one-and-a-half months, and identified the racket’s alleged masterminds as Kurunal Ray, 37; Saurabh Rajput, 30; Sajid Ali, 32; and Sadiq Thakur, 40, originally from Gujarat, residing in Noida.

“They hired 72 people, including nine women, to run the call centre. The employees were paid between ₹20,000 and 25,000 for working from Monday to Friday as per eastern standard time,” said Shakti Mohan Avasthy, deputy commissioner of police, Central Noida.

“Upon getting information about the call centre from an informer, a team raided a building in block A in Sector 63 and found people in communication with US citizens,” an officer said.

During the probe, the suspects revealed that they used to send a bug to US citizens’ laptops. Once their target clicked on it, a phone number of a call centre would start displaying on the screen, blocking the entire function of their laptop.

“When their target clicks on the number, they dupe them by posing as customer care executives of a prominent company,” said Avasthy, adding that they used to buy US citizens’ data from a private firm.

The suspects also duped US citizens by offering loans at reasonable interest rates. They used to collect charges for this service by making them purchase gift cards and also via money laundering.

Police recovered 58 laptops, 45 telephones, 24 mobile phones, and other equipment. All 76 have been booked under section 319 (cheating by personation), 318 (cheating), and 336 (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Sector 63 station on Friday, the DCP added.

On November 21, Noida police busted a similar call centre that allegedly duped foreign nationals after hacking their laptops, said police, adding that 11 accused were arrested.