India based scamsters defrauded thousands of US residents with millions of scam calls posing as Social Security, IRS officials
US authorities have charged six India-based call centers and their directors with defrauding thousands of US residents with millions of scam calls posing as officials of Social Security administration and IRS.
“These India-based call centers allegedly scared their victims and stole their money, including some victims’ entire life savings,” said Kurt Erskine, US Attorney for Northern District of Georgia announcing the charges in Atlanta Feb 3.
“Scam robocalls cause emotional and financial devastation to victims, particularly our vulnerable and elderly populations,” he said as a superseding indictment was unsealed against the six Indian-based call centers and their directors.
Read: Got a call from the IRS or the USCIS asking for money? Phone scams targeting Indians are on the rise (February 18, 2014)
They were all charged with conspiring with the previously–indicted VoIP provider E Sampark, and its Director, Guarav Gupta, to forward scam calls to tens of millions of scam calls to American consumers.
The call centers and their directors placed the initial scam calls, and the VoIP provider forwarded those calls into this country, whereupon the call centers speak to —and attempt to defraud — the American-based victims, US attorney’s office said in a press release.
“The defendants engaged in multiple scams, often targeting the most vulnerable members of society,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
As part of their Social Security scam, India-based callers pose as federal agents in order to mislead victims into believing that their Social Security numbers were involved in crimes, according to Erskine.
As part of the IRS scam, the callers pose as IRS employees and tell victims that they owe back taxes. In both scenarios, the call centers threaten to arrest the victim if the victim does not send money.
Based on misrepresentations made during the calls, the victims mailed money to a network of individuals who allegedly laundered funds on behalf of the overseas fraud network.
As part of the loan scam, India-based callers mislead American consumers into believing that the callers work for lending institutions and that the victims are eligible for fictitious loans.
The India–based callers direct the victims to pay upfront fees to demonstrate their ability to repay the loan. At times, the callers direct victims to provide their bank account information and make it appear as though they had deposited funds into the victims’ accounts.
The callers then tell the victims to withdraw the funds and transfer them via wire transfer and gift cards. After the victims send the funds, the deposits that the callers supposedly made bounce. The victims receive nothing in return.
The Indian-based call centers and their directors named in the superseding indictment are:
Manu Chawla and Achivers A Spirit of BPO Solutions Private Limited;
Sushil Sachdeva, Nitin Kumar Wadwani, Swarndeep Singh, a/k/a Sawaran Deep Kohli, and Fintalk Global;
Dinesh Manohar Sachdev and Global Enterprises;
Gaje Singh Rathore and Shivaay Communication Private Limited;
Sanket Modi and SM Technomine Private Limited; and
Rajiv Solanki and Technomind Info Solutions.
Read: Multiple India-based call centers and their directors indicted for perpetuating phone scams affecting thousands of Americans (February 3, 2022)
The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is part of the Department of Justice Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, the release said.
The Strike Force focuses on investigating and prosecuting defendants associated with foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors.
These include romance scams, phone scams, mass-mailing fraud schemes, and tech-support fraud schemes.
1 Comment
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about LittleBigPlanet Platform.
Regards