NEW DELHI (AP) – Indian police have arrested 70 people and are questioning hundreds more after uncovering a massive scam to cheat thousands of Americans out of millions of dollars by posing as U.S. tax authorities and demanding unpaid taxes, a police officer said Thursday.
According to police in Mumbai, the yearlong scam involved running fake call centers which sent voice mail messages telling U.S. nationals to call back because they owed back taxes.
Those who called back and believed the threats would fork out thousands of dollars to “settle” their case, Mumbai police officer Parag Marere said Thursday.
The scam brought in more than $150,000 a day, Marere said without giving a total sum. If the scam netted that amount daily, it would have made almost $55 million in one year.
Some victims were also told to buy gift vouchers from various companies, and hand over the voucher ID numbers which the impostors then used to make purchases, Marere said.
Police said they are likely to file charges against many of the 600 or more people still being questioned on suspicion of running the fake call centers, housed on several stories of a Mumbai office building.
Those arrested so far include several of the alleged ringleaders, as well as people accused of providing equipment and setting up the fake call centers. The criminal charges filed against the suspects include extortion, impersonation and violations of India’s information technology laws.
“We are questioning those who were involved in the fraud, including those posing as tax investigators,” Marere said.
Police raided the offices this week and seized hundreds of hard disks, hard disks, high-end servers and other electronic equipment.
Indian media reports said 70 percent of the scam’s proceeds were retained by the suspects in India, while the rest was paid to collaborators in the U.S.
Indian news broadcaster NDTV reported that one U.S.-based company allegedly collected the victims’ personal information and passed it to the fake call centers.
The IRS reports receiving more than 900,000 complaints about similar scam calls since October 2013. More than 5,000 people have fallen for the scam, paying out more than $26 million collectively as a result of scams.
The IRS has yet to comment on this recent arrest in India.
The IRS warns it will never call and demand immediate payment. It will never require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, like a gift card or prepaid debit card. The agency will never ask for credit card numbers over the phone.
If you receive a call form someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, you should never give out personal information. Report the call to the IRS using their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.
Dozens arrested at India call center linked to IRS scam calls
ONE OF THESE ASSHOLES CALLED ME…I SAID,” IF YOU WANT MONEY FROM ME YOU’LL HAVE TO COME TAKE IT”. HEARD NOTHING MORE………………….
I got the phone call too. Was told the police would be at my home to arrest me. I told them I would be waiting on the porch locked and loaded…….didn’t get a call again! Glad they got busted.
wife doesnt speak their language( she does , but not well over the phone) ,, especially with the accent they had(dead give away too).. so she laughed at them and hung up
when I got home she told me about it,, we both had a good laugh..’cause i know this isnt how the IRS conducts “business”
this is just like the police calling for your donations.. its BS
they prey on the elderly,, and that my friends is deplorable .. just like any politician using a kid during their campaine to sway votes .. its sick and un presidential
“The scam brought in more than $150,000 a day,…”
There are some SERIOUSLY gullible people out there.
‘t.v. programming’
I watched the documentary about making of Gilligan’s Island. Several people sent the Navy letters asking why they didn’t go and rescue the castaways. Now you know who pays India scammers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26tWWopd_3g
Time mark .55
Good one. I forgot about that skit.
Like the Japanese have problems with letter “r”.
India has a problem with the letter “v”.
Like for instance. ..
I named my black lab Rocky.
My mother who is japanese calls him..
“Lucky”.
So if you call a service center and at the end they say..
Thank you “b”erry much for calling.
You just might be a little suspicious.
Now if we can just arrest all of the IRS people for scamming us on our taxes and pay, we’ll be all set. 😉
I’m gonna have to go with Ron Paul’s favorite saying on this one,
“Don’t steal. The government hates competition”.
LOL!
I’m guessing these guys weren’t on the IRS’s private mercenary debt collector list. 😉
Well, this is what we get for outsourcing our jobs.
“THANK YOU! CALL AGAIN!”
http://tomwoods.com/podcast/ep-729-the-real-story-of-the-epipen-fiasco-plus-tom-takes-on-scammers-over-the-phone/
http://tomwoods.com/blog/scammers-pretend-to-be-from-irs-i-get-my-revenge/
I like the way this guy handles the IRS scam