Massive call-centre scam unearthed in India; employees posed as tax officials to extort money

Indian call-centre scammed US citizens for tens of millions of dollars. One of these call centres recently placed an advertisement on Aug. 30 seeking a "call centre executive" to handle calls to the United States and Australia.

Police personnel arrested the accused employees for allegedly threatening the US citizens and siphoning off their money Source: Pramod Thakur/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Indian Police in Thane (near Mumbai) said they arrested 70 call-centre workers on Wednesday (October 5) on suspicion of tricking American citizens into sending them money by posing as U.S. tax officials.

A total of 772 workers were detained in raids on nine call centres in a Mumbai suburb, a senior police official told Reuters.

Seventy were placed under formal arrest, 630 were released pending questioning over the coming days, and 72 were freed without further investigation.

One of these call centres recently placed an advertisement on Aug. 30 seeking a "call centre executive" to handle calls to the United States and Australia. Experience was not necessary and the salary was described as a "good hike" and the bonus "unlimited."

It has emerged that these bogus call centres were in the business of making calls to the innocent American taxpayers, innocent citizens in the name of IRS (Internal Revenue Service) officers.

They would impersonate as IRS officers, added Thane's police commissioner, Parambir Singh.

SCAM MODUS OPERANDI:

Indian newspaper The Times of India reported that call centre employees trained in American accent called victims in US through VoIP calls.

The caller then identified himself/herself as an employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and claimed that they had defaulted on taxes and must pay up immediately or face arrest.

The caller first demanded $10-20k but later settled for $3-5k which was to be paid through pre-paid cards.

SCAM WORTH MILLIONS:

The scam brought in more than $150,000 a day, Deputy Police Commissioner Parag Manere has been quoted saying by ABC27.

The scam ran for almost a year, the Indian police told the Associated Press (AP).

EMPLOYEES WERE AWARE BUT KEPT QUIET:

Assistant police commissioner Bharat Shelke told Reuters that employees were aware of the fraud, but since they were getting a good salary, they remained silent.

"I got to know we are doing illegal things within a week after joining," one defendant told Reuters as he returned to a police van, "but I saw many getting good performance bonuses. So I didn't leave."

Police officials have not identified the company where the call centre workers were employed, or any of the main players involved in the alleged scam. But police said they suspect the scheme was masterminded by a kingpin from the western Indian state of Gujarat.

They have also declined comment on whether Mumbai police were investigating in conjunction with U.S. authorities, or comment on what prompted the inquiry.