Even as you read this, the police are in action against one of the biggest call centre scams in India, emanating from Mira Road
Even as you read this, the police are in action against one of the biggest call centre scams in India, emanating from Mira Road. There are at least 500 people from nine call centres in Mira Road who have been detained for cheating thousands, mostly foreigners, through fraud. Estimates say the fraud could run into hundreds of crores of rupees.
Owners hired professionals to make calls to thousands of people in their database. They first took the victims into confidence, using the personal information they already knew. They then started telling them about tax evasion, etc, to intimidate the victims. The victims were soon lured into revealing their bank details, or they were encouraged to transfer money into accounts set up by these criminals. Sure enough, the money vanished after that.
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Banks always warn people about phishing through SMS and email. Note the definition of phishing, which is an attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Here, the communication was by telephone.
The modus operandi of the callers is usually the same. First they dangle carrots, and if that does not work, they bring out the sticks.
The first step is to win your trust by learning personal details, pretending concern. Then there is an attempt to inveigle details out of you. If charm does not work, the fraudsters will use intimidation, just dropping hints at first, and then making open threats.
Trust your instincts, this can be a powerful safeguard against cons. If you think you are being fooled, you probably are. The best way to foil an attempt at phishing is to simply not take the bait.
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