India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says it has ‘busted’ a major scam operation that used robocalls and VoIP to target Americans, per a press release issued last week. Victims were tricked into thinking they had been called by employees of US government departments or agencies who demanded the payment of bogus fines and fees. The list of agencies that were impersonated includes the USA’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). Victims in other countries were convinced they were speaking to the taxation agencies of Canada or Australia.
Scam call centers were reportedly situated in various Indian states with their calls channeled through a VoIP provider based in Gujarat, on the Western coast of India. The CBI searched 24 locations associated with these crimes, both within Gujarat and also in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. As a consequence of the searches, police have seized Indian cash worth approximately INR220mn (USD2.6mn) plus foreign currency, cryptocurrency accounts and property papers.
This latest progress stems from an investigation that began with Operation Chakra in October 2022. The CBI searched 11 locations at that time, including two scam call centers suspected of making calls to the USA. Tom Walker, who previously oversaw fraud investigations for AT&T, took to social media to advise that the roots of this police work originated much earlier still. Walker commented on LinkedIn that he had “referred this case to US law enforcement in May 2017”.
Most responses to the CBI raids will congratulate the police for being proactive in fighting these crimes. It is good to see police forces in several countries placing a higher priority on arresting scammers and shutting down their call centers. Phone and internet fraudsters have sought to exploit overseas victims in the hope that local police will not care. However, we should consider how much harm has been done whilst waiting for police to take action. The best way to tackle scams like these is to put the kingpins who profit from them in prison, and to seize all their ill-gotten gains. This is the only way to stop them setting up new scam compounds to replace the ones that have been closed down, and to discourage anyone tempted to emulate their methods.
