It is said that northern Myanmar specializes in cheating Chinese money, then India is "Americans' northern Myanmar"!
Many people don't know that India is also another fraud center in the world, they defraud Americans of money, in the past five years, the United States has lost more than 27.6 billion US dollars due to network telecommunications fraud, equivalent to 197 billion yuan!
What is frustrating is that even the FBI in the United States is helpless and seems to be unable to find a solution to the problem.
Many people may have the same question: Why does India pick on the Americans? The English accent of the Indians is very obvious, how can anyone still be fooled? Is it true that the United States, which claims to be the world's number one power, has nothing to do about it?
Indian scams
The most puzzling thing about Indians participating in telecom fraud to defraud Americans of their money is the English accent. How could the curry-flavored accent of the Indians deceive the Americans?
In fact, all this can be traced back to the 80s of the last century, when, in order to reduce costs, the United States began to implement economic globalization and transfer domestic industries overseas, including a large number of tertiary industries.
India became a beneficiary of Western "office business" because of its ease of promoting English during the British colonial period. It is mainly reflected in the call center outsourcing business, including customer service centers such as telephone customer service and telemarketing.
Although Indians have a strong local accent in English, they are "inexpensive" and have a labor cost of only one-tenth of that of customer service personnel in Europe and the United States, so they have become the first choice for American companies.
According to a survey, in 2020 alone, India had more than 2,000 call centers, while 56 million people in the United States experienced telecom fraud in the same year.
In the daily lives of Americans, almost every phone call involving human customer service has an Indian accent, and countless Indians call Americans every day, from campaign fundraisers to polls, electricity bills, and fitness cards.
Slowly, Americans are also getting acclimated to the curry-flavored Indian accent.
Although Indians market to Americans 24 hours a day, their income is meagre compared to that of most Americans. Some people have other calculations, although I don't have any money myself, but this American is like a huge piece of "fat meat"!
As one of the most developed countries in the world, the United States has a huge economy and a relatively wealthy population, so it is an ideal target for telecom fraudsters.
Moreover, Indians have accumulated a lot of personal information about Americans through telemarketing, and they have full information about the target's economic status and living Xi habits, making Americans more susceptible to deception.
As a result, Indian telecom fraudsters are able to target Americans in a more targeted manner because they understand the victim's background and can more easily gain the victim's trust through customized fraud tactics.
And why is it that taxes are often used as an entry point to commit fraud?
Because the U.S. tax system is extremely complex and must be reported by the taxpayer in person, there is no withholding option. As a result, many U.S. citizens are frequently troubled by tax issues and often receive calls purporting to be from the IRS.
So scammers will pretend to be an official of the IRS, FBI or other government agencies, claiming that the victim has tax evasion, arrears, etc., threatening the victim with the risk of arrest or legal action, and forcing them to pay the money immediately to avoid trouble.
After the other party claims to be the official and accuses the victim of tax evasion, the victim usually loses some ability to think and can only obediently jump into the trap set by the fraudster.
In addition, Indian fraudsters will take advantage of the drug problem that is rampant in the United States.
The United States shares a border with South America, which in turn is one of the main producers of drugs, and the import of drugs into the United States is almost inevitable.
Because the open and liberal education system promoted in the United States has failed to effectively protect and guide young people, Indian fraudsters will impersonate police officers or investigators over the phone and use fake investigation warrants or arrest warrants to threaten victims.
For teens who are worried about being exposed, they are more susceptible to these false threats, and this psychological pressure and fear of serious consequences forces them to obey the demands of the fraudsters.
Another common way to scam is through computer pop-ups. These pop-ups are usually disguised as anti-virus software, indicating that the user's computer is at risk of poisoning and that they need to call a certain number immediately to contact the staff for repair.
On the other end of the phone, the scammer often lays a "trap", asking for a certain repair fee or directly implanting a virus on the victim's computer, so as to easily obtain the victim's identity and bank card information, so as to carry out the act of stealing property.
U.S. cracks down on fraud in India
According to statistics, India has obtained more than 100 billion US dollars in foreign exchange through fraud, and has formed a huge global fraud industry chain. And in 2023, Americans are expected to suffer losses from wire fraud that may exceed $90 billion.
For example, the Gurgaon Industrial Park, located near the Indian capital, looks like a high-end office building, and no one can imagine that it is a "den of thieves", with thousands of fraudulent calls from here to all parts of the country every day.
Here, the "sky-high salary" of the staff is even calculated on a daily basis, and one day can earn money that others cannot earn for several years. The fraud gang also relied on this "sky-high salary" to attract countless people to join and become a member of the gang.
In fact, in the face of the threat of telecom fraud in India, the US government has already taken various measures to combat this crime.
The United States has urged agencies such as the FBI, CIA, U.S. tax investigation bureau, and U.S. communications security to work together, and has even sent intelligence bureau teams to India to work together to put pressure on the Indian government.
However, it is a pity that these methods have not completely eradicated the fraud gangs, and India's legal enforcement system and law enforcement capacity are relatively weak, making it difficult for some telecom fraudsters to get away with it and bring them to justice.
Many Indian people believe that some wire fraud syndicates have already colluded with senior officials of the Indian government in private, and they will not launch a comprehensive crackdown on fraudsters at all.
Some Indian politicians even believe that it is not a crime to cheat the British and Americans out of money, because the money should belong to the Indians in the first place. This disregard for telecom fraud complicates the fight against crime.
In recent days, the news that the Chinese government has cracked down on hundreds of thousands of wire fraudsters in northern Myanmar in accordance with the law has become popular all over the world, which has made many people in the United States very envious.
American netizens have appealed on the Internet, hoping that the US government can also be like the Chinese government, and really come up with some tough moves to show India and Argentina.
Always be vigilant
Telecom fraud has become a major hidden danger affecting social security, and we must always be vigilant in our daily lives to avoid becoming the next target of fraudsters.
One of the most important is to overcome the idea of "taking advantage of a small advantage". You must know that pie will not fall from the sky, and don't believe those false information that can easily make money, such as: online gambling, part-time swiping, winning activities, etc.
Before communicating with any stranger, make sure that the other party's identity is legitimate, and you can confirm the true identity of the other party by querying the phone number, verifying the information of the institution, or directly contacting the relevant unit.
When you receive a strange call or message, don't believe the other party's words and be led by the other party's nose. Especially when it comes to personal privacy or financial information, it's important to stay calm at all times.
If you find out that you have been defrauded or suspect fraud, you should immediately report to the police and provide details to the relevant law enforcement authorities. Actively install the national anti-fraud APP, and use the five functions provided by the APP to screen fraud routines and avoid being deceived.
Finally, remember the old saying: "Don't be gullible, don't disclose, don't send money", this is the basic principle of preventing telecom fraud. As long as we can heighten our vigilance and strengthen our self-defense, we will not become a "little lamb" in the eyes of criminals who are allowed to be slaughtered.