TIL Desk/World/Chicago/ As many as 15 people, including seven Indians, and five India-based call centres have been indicted in a multimillion-dollar scam which defrauded over 2,000 US citizens, resulting in over USD 5.5 million in losses, the Department of Justice said on Friday. The scam involved call centre operators who called potential victims while impersonating officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or individuals offering payday loans, US Attorney Byung J Pak said.
Later, they threatened victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines for failing to pay taxes or penalties to the government, the Justice Department said in a statement. In connection with the scheme, seven individuals were arrested on Thursday in the United States. Seven co-conspirators and five call-centres based in Ahmedabad were also charged for their alleged involvement.
The indictment alleges that the defendants were involved in a sophisticated scheme organised by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centres in Ahmedabad. “IRS and payday loan phone schemes seek to profit by exploiting United States citizens, including the most vulnerable members of our community, said the US Attorney. “This indictment and yesterday’s arrests demonstrate our commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who hide behind these types of phone scams,” Pak said.
