A fake call centre that allegedly duped young job seekers by promising them opportunities in other countries on cruise ships has been busted in Noida’s Sector 63 with the arrest of four men, including two brothers, police said on Tuesday.

The fake firm, operating under the name Sea Zone Recruitment and Training, allegedly lured young men and women through social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram with targeted ads of overseas job opportunities on cruise liners, said officers.

“Once victims made contact (with them), the accused allegedly extracted money in instalments. For instance, Rs 10,000 for a fitness check-up, Rs. 45,000 in the name of training, and a further Rs  25,000 for assistance with work orders and visas that  went up to Rs 80,000 per victim,” said R K Gautam, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Noida.

The four men have been identified as Nitin Kumar (23) and Sachin Kumar (31), the brother duo residing in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram; Aman Kumar (21), also a resident of Indirapuram; and Virendra Kumar (20), a resident of Sector 37 of Noida. After collecting the money via bank transfers or cash, the accused would allegedly switch off their phones and relocate the office to avoid detection, police said. Officers said the firm had no GST registration, and all transactions were routed through the personal bank accounts of the accused and their associates.

Police also said that a case has been registered against all four for cheating, forgery of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and along with relevant sections of the IT Act.

“We also recovered four laptops, eleven mobile phones, debit cards from 9 different banks, Rs.12,000 in cash, nine official-looking offer letters, three sets of scripts and sales pitches used to deceive victims, one forged medical centre document, one medical referral letter, five sets of fake medical certificates, and six candidate calling lists from the accused,” Gautam said.

The ADCP also said that the police are also looking into the criminal history of all the accused and how long they had been operating for. “Further investigation is underway,” he added.