When trouble calls: Behind Delhi’s call centre scam duping US citizens

Sitting in a posh South Delhi cafe, the 38-year-old recalled a time when more than 700 people used to work for him. What he ran was a call centre — but not one dedicated to resolving customer complaints or selling a property or product. Instead, the North Delhi establishment had a singular purpose: Duping foreigners.

Those days are behind him, though. The man, who did not wish to be identified, was arrested around 2017-18 and subsequently released on bail. Speaking to The Indian Express, he revealed the staggering scope and intricate modus operandi of such ‘call centres’, which have become a nuisance for the Delhi Police. Senior officers The Indian Express spoke to testified to this trend and said the scale of each such scam runs into several crores.