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FBI Working with India's CBI and Interpol to Stem Indian Call Center Scams
With a new year comes new telecom-related scams. The FBI is estimating that Americans – a significant number of them elderly – lost $3 billion to scams originating in call centers in India in the last two years alone. Many of these scams are familiar, often operating under the pretense of online romance or tech support. Data also indicates that fraud is on the rise: losses from scams in the last 11 months are estimated at $10.2 billion, which represents an increase of 47 percent against last year’s $6.9 billion.
The Times of India reported that the FBI is stepping up its efforts to stem the scams by appointing a permanent representative at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi to work closely with CBI, Interpol and Delhi police. FBI’s South Asia head Suhel Daud noted that India’s CBI and Interpol have been "strong partners" to the FBI in carrying out investigations of the scams. The taskforces have had some successes in arresting scam gangs and freezing money transferred through wire transactions as well as cryptocurrency.
The FBI has said that it is ready to supplement any investigative gaps by providing evidence to the local law enforcement agencies in prosecuting criminals involved.
“It may not be a national security concern yet, but the reputation (of a country) is involved, and we don’t want India to suffer on that count,” Daud told the Times of India.
In mid-December, the CBI and the Delhi Police assisted the FBI in busting a major scam designed to duped thousands of the U.S. and Canadian citizens over the past decade on the pretext of providing remote tech-support, according to The Hindu. As a result of the investigation, five men were charged in an indictment and a New Jersey woman pleaded guilty in connection with a trans-national technical support scam that targeted more than 20,000 victims, many of whom were elderly, in the U.S. and Canada. The organized scam reportedly generated over $10 million in proceeds.
Edited by Greg Tavarez
