Fake Call Centres Target Gullible Foreign Citizens

With many Indian illegal call centres being busted for orchestrating scams and duping United States citizens, the larger question that arises is why law enforcement agencies do not take action against those who lease their properties to such illegal operators without conducting proper due diligence.

- Somendra Sharma

Mark Rober, a YouTuber, claimed that one scam call centre in India makes $65,000 a day, and some media reports stated that illegal call centres operating in Kolkata generate Rs3,000 crore daily. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (USA) data from 2022 revealed that US citizens had lost over $10 billion to romance-related frauds and 'tech support' pop-ups, originating largely from illegal call centres and phishing gangs in India.

In September 2024, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken action to dismantle a sophisticated virtual asset and bullion supported cyber crime network that has been targeting victims in foreign countries since 2022. This operation was executed in close coordination with the FBI.