Police in India detain 750 over US call centre scam

[Darth Penguin]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-i...564408?SThisFB

Police in the western Indian city of Thane have arrested more than 750 people suspected of defrauding US citizens from a fake call centre.
Officers say the suspects obtained lists of US tax defaulters and used threats to obtain their bank details.
The scam is said to have netted more than $150,000 (£118,000) a day, making it one of the biggest frauds in India's history.
Thane police officials said they were contacting the FBI to ask for help.
Some 70 of those detained were formally arrested, police said, with the rest released pending further inquiries. Nine people believed to have led the scam have been identified.
The scammers pretended to be members of the US Internal Revenue Service, and told victims they owed back taxes.
In some cases, the victims were duped into buying gift vouchers from different companies and bullied into revealing voucher ID numbers, police said.
The scammers then made purchases with the voucher numbers.
Police say those involved in the scam at the Indian end retained 70% of the earnings, with 30% going to their US collaborators.
Paramvir Singh, the police commissioner of Thane, told reporters that 851 hard disks, high-end servers, and other electronic equipment had been seized.
Mr Singh said overnight raids on Wednesday had lasted well into the morning, and involved more than 200 policemen who had raided buildings in three locations in the city.
Thane police superintendent Mahesh Patil told BBC Hindi that the investigation could open up cases from other countries as well.
A US State Department official said: "We have seen reports and are following the situation closely to confirm any US citizen involvement. We would refer you to the local Indian authorities for further details on the case."

[heartgirl99]

hmmmm...
i wonder if officer 'howard fleming' was caught too. he called me the other day......
his sister, 'mrs ann howard' called me last week......
funny they both had east indian accents.

i'm still waiting the for the rcmp to come and arrest me for non payment of taxes that i don't owe.

[walkonby]

hmmmm...
i wonder if officer 'howard fleming' was caught too. he called me the other day......
his sister, 'mrs ann howard' called me last week......
funny they both had east indian accents.

i'm still waiting the for the rcmp to come and arrest me for non payment of taxes that i don't owe.

ha ha !! lucky so far I have never gotten " that " call.

[juliemadden]

Well it's about time they got stopped. I got one of these suspicious calls hung up and contacted the police with the scammer's number. Thanks for that post!

[Lynn49]

I got that call, no idea why I would have answered since we don't answer if we don't recognize the name....and we don't even owe back taxes, we always get refunds! Lol. I heard the accent, the VERY threatening attitude and hung up.
I find it amazing how naive people can be!

[Darth Penguin]

I have the IRS and the CRA after me...I'm such a tax-dodging bad-ass.

[Darth Penguin]

I trolled my IRS scammers

These scammers had called me so many times that I knew their script.
They always introduced themselves as IRS officers with inconspicuous American names, like "Paul Thomas." They called to collect the $6,000 I owed the IRS. And if I didn't pay, they threatened to send the local police to arrest me.
They were unconvincing. I didn't understand how this scam could work on anyone. But a quick search led me to a couple in Tennessee, a student in Virginia, and thousands of others who'd fallen for the scam. There was something about this scam that worked — and I had to find out what it was.
So I got further and further into the scam. At first, I played along for a few minutes and then hung up. After a few days, I trolled them with the vast amount I learned about their operation. Then, on a hot mid-September day, I decided enough was enough.
I was going to get to the end of this scam.
That's how I ended up talking to "Steve Smith" for 30 minutes. He was a senior investigations officer — the actual person who walks you through how to send them money. I learned that his secret is maintaining an aura of authority. That's how he optimizes fear. That's how he gets people to suspend logic, drive to Walgreens, and buy iTunes gift cards to pay the IRS. The scam takes advantage of the most vulnerable people.

[Newfiescreech]

[QUOTE=Darth Penguin;6693750]I trolled my IRS scammers[/QUOT

I kept track all calls I got from them .. after 4 rings on my land line .. my answering machine records all messages.. these people very cruel .. He said if you didn't f@@king pay money right away .. IRS was coming to my home .. Guy said don't be dumb ass .. pay right now .. if you knows what's good for you .. I told guy come get me and bring IRS .. cause I don't owe anyone money .. He told me I was f@@king liar and stay where I was cause IRS will be at my door in few seconds .. no point running cause they would get me no matter what !! What sick people out there in the world .. Sad how they target seniors they panic and pay right away .. not thinking that don't owe anyone anything.. so sad