Scam operations in Noida and Jaipur have been abruptly suspended after a Khaleej Times investigation exposed how Indian call centres were posing as Dubai-based forex firms to defraud UAE residents using spoofed +971 numbers.

An employee from one of the Noida centres said there was panic after the report went viral internally.“It was circulated everywhere. Managers were asking how the operation leaked,” he said.“We were all told to go home and not come back until things cool down.”

This isn't the first time an exposé has forced such a move. Last month, a call centre in Dubai's IMPZ area pushing similar shady platform shut down its operations overnight after a separate Khaleej Times report. All staff were sent home without notice.

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The latest Khaleej Times investigation traced the scam to three centres, two in Noida and one in Jaipur, where agents used leaked UAE phone lists and sales scripts to pose as licensed brokers in Dubai. But it was the digital trail that helped unravel the deeper connection.

Domain records and addresses showed multiple platforms - F1Capitals, Algo Global International, Arbitrage Prime and Oscar Markets - linked to the same Saint Lucia address. Even more telling, their websites were registered under the same proxy email and backend infrastructure, pointing to a coordinated syndicate operating across India and the UAE.

Since the reports were published, Khaleej Times has been inundated with distress messages from victims, some claiming losses of up to half a million dirhams. Others wrote in saying they narrowly escaped after reading the story. Earlier, the UAE's Ministry of Interior issued a public warning, urging residents to check a platform's registration with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) before investing.

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