In a major transnational crackdown, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in coordination with Indian cyber-crime units and federal agencies has dismantled a large illegal call centre network operating from India that allegedly targeted elderly citizens in the United States.
According to US Department of Justice court documents cited by Financial Express, the scam network cheated thousands of elderly victims of millions of dollars between 2016 and 2022 through fake tech-support and government impersonation schemes operated mainly from fraudulent call centres in India.
Investigators revealed a highly manipulative multi-stage scam designed to exploit panic, beginning with fake browser pop-ups warning of malware infections and security breaches.
Victims were falsely told that restarting their devices could cause data loss, pushing them to call a toll-free number linked to the fraud network. Once connected, scammers posing as technicians gained remote access to computers and ran basic tools, falsely presenting them as advanced repairs. Victims were then pressured into paying for fake fixes through wire transfers, gift cards, or cash.
Federal investigators said the FBI's Boston Division has already secured several convictions in the case, including five India-based operators and a former insider. The investigation gained momentum after two senior telecom company executives admitted in court that they knowingly helped the scam network operate for years.
In a federal court in Providence, the telecom company executives linked to the scam admitted they were guilty. Former Chief Executive Officer Adam Young, 42, and former Chief Security Officer Harrison Gevirtz, 33, admitted to conspiracy charges linking them to the transnational fraud network, reported Financial Express.
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According to prosecutors, Young and Gevirtz confessed that their enterprise systematically provided essential operational tools, such as call routing, tracking, forwarding, and dedicated phone numbers, to illicit entities they fully recognised as fraudulent tech-support syndicates.
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