THANE: The mastermind of the Mira Road call centre scam is a 23-year-old youth, the police have said. Shahgar Thakkar, alias Shaggy , is on the run since the scam was busted last Tuesday. He has an aide, Tapash, who too is yet to be traced."Despite his youth, Thakkar has made a fortune, that too in a short span of time. At a very young age he has mastered the art of cheating foreigners by sitting in India," a police officer said. A source said Thakkar may have fled the country.Witnesses and accused have told the police that Thakkar owns several high-end cars and is a multimillionaire. "Some of our seniors used to motivate us to get more business by holding Thakkar as an example for his lavish lifestyle and flamboyance. He would often visit our call centre," said an accused."We have found a couple of WhatsApp groups on which the call centre employees were present and would get data on gullible US citizens," said a police officer.The typical setting of the busted Mira Road call centres was that the top floor was for those making as low as $1.5 lakh per month for their firm. On the lowest floors would be those making $5-7 lakh per month.Multiple US agencies are in touch with the Thane police, exchanging details on the investigation. Sources say the call centre bust is the tip of the iceberg and the racket is spread across the country and is perhaps even operated out of homes and not just commercial centres.Call centre staff would make their calls by posing as officials of the US Internal Revenue Service or the immigration department. "Their counterparts in some other centres were trained as computer repairing, servicing or credit cards agents," a police officer told TOI.As many as 70 staffers have been arrested and 630 have been given notice. The police are noting down the statements of the 630, based on which they will determine their course of action.