Over the past year, many American citizens were reportedly duped by operators at nine call centres in the satellite township of Mira Road, about 40 km from Mumbai. Late Tuesday night, Thane police raided these call centres, booked 700 persons and made 70 arrests. According to the investigating team, the victims in the US were threatened with a tax investigation by Mira Road call centre executives impersonating as American Internal Revenue Services (IRS) officials. Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said to escape tax investigation, many Americans agreed to pay between US $500 and $60,000. An audio recording of an employee at one of these call centres, now in the possession of the Thane Police, had him tell his prospective victim: There is a lawsuit filed in your name regarding tax evasion or tax fraud. An officer said the call centre employees were trained to speak with an American accent. The nine alleged bogus call centres were located at three different locations, seven in a business park off Western Express Highway, one in a bungalow in Mira Road and one in a small shop in a residential building of the suburb. The employees would begin the conversation telling the listener the badge number and name of the IRS official. They would threaten the Americans saying if they didn‘t pay up, then the police would raid their home in the next half hour, said Singh. Investigations showed the calls were made through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The accused had spoofed the toll number of IRS. So when the victim received a call, Internal Revenue Services would flash on their phone,‖ Singh said. Victims would be coaxed to purchase a gift card of a specific brand and forced to transfer the money through these gift cards.