Lucknow, Nov 19 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) has arrested 16 people for allegedly running a fake call centre and defrauding US nationals, officials said on Sunday.

They were arrested from Noida on Saturday in a joint operation by the STF and the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police, sources said. Documents and data related to more than 40 US citizens were also recovered during the crackdown.

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Investigation was started following an e-mail complaint from a American that money from his bank account in the US had been fraudulently transferred to an account of a bank in Hong Kong following a call from the centre, the STF said in a statement.

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The call centre was being operated from a building in an area under the Phase-1 police station in Noida, it said.

The STF said an accused has said the gang used buy the data of US citizens, including information about their social security number, and then call and defraud them.

Members of the gang in the US ensured that money derived by fraudulent methods is deposited in accounts of various banks in Hong Kong, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)