We all know that the Internet is one of the greatest inventions. It puts information at our fingertips, communicates more effectively, and makes the world a smaller place through the convenience of connectivity. However, it also makes it easy for fraudulent scammers to reach us and invade our personal and private lives online.
CBC News’ Fraud Fighters follows how they track down Indian crooks who have been duping apparently innocent Canadian citizens, especially the elderly and less tech-savvy, into gaining access and stealing their money in recent years.
These Indian tech crooks hire mules in Canada to smuggle funds back to their headquarters. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) can only apprehend the mules, but the mastermind is thousands of miles away and inaccessible. Stolen money is rarely returned.
As a central IT hub, India has some of the most sophisticated and advanced call center industries in the world. Criminal masterminds set up a call center to contact potential victims and scam them during the call. These call center agents get a cut of the money they steal.
They deploy sophisticated phishing scams cleverly disguised as tech support calls. These so-called tech support scams use professionally and legally trained agents. They pose as customer service or support staff for major companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Apple.
These scammers will then contact you claiming that you have a software problem or have been hacked and that they can help you secure your computer right away. What follows is a barrage of pressure and scare tactics to lure you into giving them remote access to your computer and paying for their services to “fix” your nonexistent software or hacking problems.
They will then proceed to steal personal and financial information from your computer. These agents also install malware, ransomware, and other viruses that can continue to spy on you or damage your device.
While this may sound like an old-school lie, these tech support scammers are sophisticated enough to set up real companies with professional-looking websites and fake customer reviews. They also frequently appear on the Better Business Bureau’s website to make them seem more legitimate.
Northern Ireland hacker Jim Browning helped the team and gave investigators clues about the ongoing phone scam. Jim (not his real name) is a popular YouTuber and computer whiz (and hacker) whose life’s work is to expose the scammers who prey on so many people and rob them of their hard-earned cash.
Although Indian authorities crack down on these scam call centers, the masterminds usually get away with it. In Canada, police believe a massive information campaign is needed to prevent anyone from becoming a victim. However, we should also do our part and be careful when using the internet.
