Indian call centers have built a reputation for handling customer service and tech support inquiries for major U.S. companies. But in recent years, investigators have traced several organized phone frauds – involving callers posing as computer technicians, debt collectors, immigration officials or tax agents – to Indian call centers.
Call centers the source of various impostor frauds
This year, the Federal Trade Commission described Indian call centers as “the source of various impostor frauds that have reached consumers throughout the English-speaking world.” Last month, police in the northern Mumbai suburb of Thane (pronounced THA-nay) raided three office buildings suspected of being used to make the fraudulent IRS calls and rounded up more than 700 people for questioning. At least 70 remain behind bars as investigators have expanded the probe to include dozens of call centers in multiple Indian states.
Read more about the tax scam at The Chicago Tribune.
Parag Manere, deputy police commissioner in Thane, India, helped bust the fake call centers. (Shashank Bengali / Los Angeles Times)
