Call Centers in India Posed as I.R.S. to Cheat U.S. Taxpayers, Authorities Say
By HARI KUMAR

NEW DELHI — The call centers outside Mumbai looked like many others that have sprung up across India in recent decades. But investigators say the hundreds of people who worked at the nine centers had an unusual assignment: posing as Internal Revenue Service officers and demanding money from American taxpayers.

The operation had been in place for a year before an informer went to the authorities a few weeks ago. An investigation led to raids, with officers blocking exits on each floor of a building that housed seven of the centers, the police said on Wednesday, adding that 70 people were arrested and 600 people were under investigation.

The call center employees would send mass text messages announcing an urgent inquiry to as many as 10,000 American cellphone numbers, said Parag Manere, deputy commissioner of police in Thane, in the western state of Maharashtra.

If recipients called back, the call center employees would introduce themselves as “Christopher or Daniel” and speak with an American accent, impersonating I.R.S. officers.

They would then warn the victims that the local police or I.R.S. agents would raid their homes within 30 minutes unless they sent an immediate payment, said Makarand Ranade, another Thane police official.

The police said they had informed United States authorities and were seeking their cooperation to locate victims of the scheme, which they estimated was collecting some $90,000 to $150,000 a day and had been operating for a year.

Among those arrested in the raids on Tuesday were call center owners, floor managers, accountants and supervisors, Mr. Ranade said. The suspects were charged with extortion, fraud and the use of a criminal threat.

“They were stunned to see the police,” said Mr. Manere, who supervised the raid. “They never thought that police would raid them.”

詐騙美公民 印度集團日撈15萬

印度警方破獲當地歷來最大宗電信詐騙案，逮捕750多人，懷疑他們參與一個造假的電話客戶服務中心詐騙美國公民，每天詐騙所得超過15萬美元。

BBC報導，印度西部城市塔那（Thane）警方表示，疑犯手上有一份涉嫌逃稅的美國公民名單，威脅他們交出銀行戶口資料，警方已聯繫美國聯邦調查局（FBI）尋求協助。

警方說，被捕的大約70人有前科，其他人獲准保釋候查，有9人被認為是詐騙集團的首領。詐騙方式包括：訛稱自己是美國稅局人員，對受害人說他們獲得退稅；還有受害人被騙購買其他公司的禮券，然後逼受害人公開禮券個人號碼來購物。

警方指出，在印度的騙徒和在美國合謀者七三分贓。

據報導，塔那市警察專員辛格表示，警方還查獲了851個硬碟、高端伺服器和其他電子設備。

辛格說，警方在5日通宵展開搜捕行動，出動200多名警察，搜查了塔那市三個地點的建築。

BBC引述塔那市一名警長說，進一步的調查可能揭露更多國家涉及這個詐騙案。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/world/asia/india-call-centers-phone-scam-irs.html

2016-10-06 世界日報 編譯中心