By the end of the year, Indian scam call centers will loot about $12 billion from senior citizens and other non-tech-savvy people in the US alone. FBI’s data shows that this is a 47 per cent increase from last year.
Data from the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI showed that US citizens have lost more than $10 billion to call centers running scams. These call centers operate as startups or fake customer service call centers and offer tech help to unsuspecting victims, who get scammed into sharing their personal details or worse, access to credit card or bank accounts.
Some of these scammers have even tried to get their hands dirty with romance-related phishing scams.
The data that the FBI released showed that of the $10.2 billion that was looted from American citizens, about $3 billion was done through call centers offering tech help over a VoIP call, and the rest through various other means. All this data was collected over the first 11 months of the year, and the FBI estimates that by the end of the calendar, year, the figure may be as high as $12 billion. In just these 11 months, the figure saw an increase of 47 per cent, over last year’s $6.9 billion.
Reports state that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has appointed a permanent representative at the US embassy in New Delhi to collaborate closely with the CBI, Interpol, and Delhi Police to break up these phishing gangs and recover money sent via wire and digital currencies to scamming organizations based in India. The FBI is worried that Indian-based phishing gangs are scamming elderly Americans of their life savings.
According to the legal attaché to the US embassy in India, Suhel Daud, most of these scam victims are senior citizens over the age of 60. Daud claims that although it is not now a national security threat for either India or the US, it nonetheless contributes significantly to harming our nation’s image. He said that the FBI is ready to close any gaps in the investigation by providing evidence to the local law enforcement agencies so they may bring charges against the implicated parties.
When it comes to transporting your vehicle the best way to avoid scams is by verifying that the transportation company is real. Make sure to request the MC number or DOT number of each company wants to provide you with the service. Just by going into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (see link below) you will be able to see if this companies are active or if they have any Revocations.
https://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/pkg_menu.prc_menu
Most of this scammers with get your attention by providing a super low quote to then ask you to pay upfront. Another way they like to scam people is by requesting payment via Zelle or any other APP that you cannot get your money back.
One last thing to end on a funny note: When you get a phone call from a guy that tells you his name is Michael Johnson but sounds like Apu from the Simpsons. You´ll know what to do.
