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The Scam Industry Is Becoming a Big Problem in India

According to the FBI, American nationals lost around $50 million to one network of online scammers based in India.

On September 15, investigators raided three call centers in Pune and Patiala, finding around 220 people at work. According to India’s Enforcement Directorate, the premises were being used to defraud Americans. Investigators said that they were establishing the workers’ identities and roles.

Officers also searched a Chandigarh property linked to a suspected organizer. They seized 66 mobile phones, 13 laptops, and unspecified records. Investigators said that they were examining calling scripts, internet telephony systems, and payment routes. 

The published account did not provide an overall figure for victims’ losses. 

Months earlier, another investigation exposed the damage one India-based network could inflict. An American woman’s $1.7 million loss helped investigators connect other victims to the operation. The FBI subsequently attributed more than $48.7 million in reported losses among over 600 American victims to the network. Indian authorities arrested six alleged leaders in December 2025. 

These cases reveal an enduring threat to American households, while also hurting India’s image abroad. Organized networks operating from India can reach victims thousands of miles away. As has happened with Cambodia’s scam centers, a raid may shut down one office while the people who hire workers, move the money, and coordinate from outside remain untouched.

The Business of Scamming

The criminal organizations behind these calls can resemble a conventional business. A 2024 study published by Itad and commissioned by Britain’s Home Office described larger Indian scam centers with management structures, staff shifts, human resources departments, and quality control functions. It also documented recruitment agencies, prepared scripts, English and accent training, and performance incentives.

Roles can be divided between “openers,” who establish contact, and “closers,” who persuade victims to surrender money. Beyond the telephone operators sit facilitators who supply websites, deceptive pop-ups, recruitment services, and various forms of money laundering. The study also identified markets for phone numbers, calling scripts, and victim profiles. These arrangements allow different participants to specialize in separate parts of the fraud. 

Reuters reported in 2016 that former workers at scam centers near Mumbai described memorizing scripts, learning from floor managers, and receiving commissions or incentives. The accounts describe a workplace where securing a payment from a victim could increase an employee’s earnings. 

Technology helps conceal the operation. In a Noida case announced in July 2025, Britain’s National Crime Agency described spoofed telephone numbers and internet calls routed through servers in several countries. The scam center in Noida targeted both British and American victims. A familiar-looking number on a screen offered no reliable indication of where the caller actually worked. 

An office can make a scam look like a real business. Reporting from Maharashtra has described scam centers posing as IT or outsourcing firms, while poor verification of businesses made such operations harder to detect.

How Scammers Extract Money

The details differ between networks, but documented cases show a recurring progression from an alarming first contact to demands for money.

Stage one is intended to trigger initial fear and gain attention from the intended victim. In technical support fraud, a person browsing the internet sees a warning claiming that their computer has been infected or compromised. The message supplies a telephone number. Calling it connects the victim to someone offering to resolve the supposed emergency. In the Noida case, investigators said callers falsely presented themselves as Microsoft employees and charged for unnecessary repairs. 

Other schemes begin with unsolicited calls claiming unpaid taxes, compromised identities or criminal investigations. The goal is to create a false sense of urgency and then urge action before the victim has time to check it. 

Scammers reinforce their claims through multiple impersonations. A supposed technical support worker may introduce a bank representative, followed by someone claiming government authority. Each apparent handover makes the preceding story seem independently confirmed.

The FBI’s warning about “Phantom Hacker” scams describes forged correspondence on government letterheads and instructions to keep transfers secret. The victim is encouraged to distrust the very people who could interrupt the fraud. The caller says the conversation must stay private to protect the victim. That stops the victim from asking someone else for advice.

Some operators persuade victims to install remote-access software. This can allow the scammer to inspect the computer and watch as the victim opens financial accounts. The supposed repair becomes an opportunity to identify available savings. A second impersonator then claims those funds face immediate danger and must be moved to a supposedly secure account. 

In other schemes, threats of arrest or deportation supply the pressure. American prosecutions have documented India-based callers impersonating tax and immigration authorities to extract payments. The victim is made to believe that following instructions will protect a home, retirement account, or legal status. That belief is central to the deception.

Payment methods vary. Gift cards and prepaid cards allow scammers to demand value without asking victims to send money directly to an identifiable caller. Once card details are surrendered, criminals can use or transfer the value.

Cryptocurrency offers another route. Victims may be instructed to withdraw savings, buy digital assets and send them to wallets controlled by the fraud network. Wire transfers can similarly........

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