Ahmedabad man Dupes Dozens of Americans in Fake Loan Scam

Ahmedabad : Over two dozen American citizens were victims of a loan approval scam orchestrated by a 27-year-old man from the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad, India. Sohil Parvez Rashid Parvez Shaikh, who only has a 10th-grade education, allegedly impersonated a loan officer from US banks to trick Americans into providing money.

Shaikh’s elaborate scheme involved cold-calling potential victims and using greetings like “May I help you” and “What can I do for you” to establish trust and initiate conversations about loan applications. He then presented fabricated loan approval letters to convince his targets, ultimately extracting money through gift vouchers in exchange for a commission.

Shockingly, Shaikh ran this operation from his own residence, transforming it into a nighttime call center active from 12 midnight to 5 am. Police reports indicate Shaikh interacted with as many as 30 people daily.

The mastermind behind the scam appears to be a man named Habib Sheikh, with whom Sohil came into contact while working at a different call center in Rakhial, Ahmedabad. Habib, who has since relocated to Delhi, reportedly supplied Sohil with a database containing the contact information of 150-200 US citizens through a mobile application.

Habib’s past activities suggest a pattern of exploiting young people like Sohil.  While he previously operated a call center in Ahmedabad himself, his current strategy involves managing operations remotely from Delhi-Noida and profiting by selling American citizen data to individuals like Sohil.

The Ahmedabad police department is actively investigating the case. A team will be dispatched to Delhi to apprehend Habib and uncover the source of the American citizen data used in the scam.

Sohil reportedly confessed to receiving a monthly commission of ₹1.5 lakh (approximately $1,800 USD) for his role in the scheme. This money was allegedly sent by Habib through an Angadia firm, a traditional money transfer service, in the form of gift vouchers purchased in the US and subsequently deposited into Habib’s account.n four months, Sohil received from Habib Rs. 6 lakh commission and all that money was coming through Angadia, said Vejalpur police inspector RM Chauhan.”