A YouTuber, known as a "scambaiter," has been tracking a call center in Kolkata, India, that scams Americans by pretending to be from the US government and Amazon. The scambaiter had previously exposed the call center in two videos, which had over 15 million views combined. However, the Kolkata police refused to take action, despite the scambaiter's efforts to inform them.
Using his skills, the scambaiter was able to track down the call center's location and even gain access to their CCTV cameras. He discovered that the scammers were making around $1,500 per victim, with an average of four successful scams per day, six days a week. Over nine months, they had stolen around $1.2 million from innocent people.
The scambaiter also found that the scammers were using various payment apps and wire transfers to collect money from their victims. They were targeting American citizens, and even had a UK day shift where they offered anti-scam phone upgrades.
To take down the scammers, the scambaiter changed their voicemail to warn potential victims about the scam. He also wiped out their computers and phone system, putting them out of business for a few weeks. In the process, he prevented innocent people from losing around $140,000.
The scambaiter also partnered with a company called Incogni, which helps remove personal data from data brokers' databases, making it harder for scammers to access people's information.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The scammers are located in Kolkata, India.
2. The scammers' call centre is located in the Webel IT Park in Siliguri, West Bengal.
3. The scammers target American citizens.
4. They use various payment apps to scam people, including Western Union, Afriex, Cash App, Remitly, Sofi, and WorldRemit.
5. They make around 250,000 calls a day, successfully scamming an average of four people.
6. The scammers steal around $1,500 per person, with an average of four successful scams a day, six days a week.
7. In nine months, the scammers have stolen around $1.2 million from innocent people.
8. The scammers use data brokers to collect people's information, which they use to convince victims that they work for a big company like Amazon.
9. Data brokers collect and sell people's information, which can be used by scammers.
10. The scammers also sell data to other fraudulent call centres.
11. The police in Kolkata refuse to take action against the scammers.
12. The scammers have good relationships with important people in the police force, and some police officers are on their payroll.
13. The YouTuber has been monitoring the scammers' calls and has been able to interrupt some scams.
14. The YouTuber has also been able to warn people about scams by changing the scammers' voicemail.
15. The YouTuber has destroyed the scammers' infrastructure, including their phone system and computers.
16. The scammers' call centre has been out of business for a couple of days, and they will likely be out of business for another four weeks.
17. The YouTuber has stopped innocent people from losing around $140,000.