Call center fraud targeting elderly Americans busted in India
Indian and US investigators working together have busted an alleged call center racket that had targeted elderly Americans for nine years, the backend operations of which were handled by at least six private companies in Delhi and other NCR cities in India.
Victims in the US would see false messages about a malware infection pop up on their computers, which would nudge them to a toll-free number. The users would then be connected to call centres in India, where operators would request remote access to the computer to “fix the problem”. After a false diagnosis of a non-existent problem, the victims would be asked for “hundreds of dollars for unnecessary services and software”.
Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) officers said the companies under investigation include New Delhi-based Softwill Infotech Pvt Ltd; Noida-based Benovellient Technologies Pvt Ltd; Gurgaon-based Saburi Global Services Pvt Ltd; and Jaipur-based Innovana Thinklabs and Systweak Software.
The raids led to the recovery of digital evidence of fraud, incriminating documents, details of several bank accounts and fixed deposits worth Rs 190 crore, other than Rs 25 lakh in cash and gold worth Rs 55 lakh, CBI said in a statement.
