Call Router Admits Sending Nearly 20,000 Tech Support Scam Calls to Indian Call Centers

The bottom line: routing calls is not a neutral act when you know where they are going. Prosecutors treated the router as a central participant in the fraud.

Background

According to the DOJ, all five defendants were Indian nationals who took part in schemes run from call centers in India, including "Tech Support" and "Refund Fraud" schemes. The call centers often obtained personal and banking information through remote access applications or from victims directly, then used it to access victims' bank accounts. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated and arrested all five.

The Narang plea

On December 11, 2020, Narang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and ten counts of wire fraud. He admitted that over a nine-month period beginning in August 2018:

• He routed nearly 20,000 "Tech Fraud" scheme calls to call centers in India.
• Many callers hung up shortly after reaching an operator, but about 7,524 stayed on the line for more than 20 minutes.
• The intended loss to victims was between $1.5 million and $3 million.

Narang also admitted taking part in a "Refund Scheme." He obtained the phone numbers of people already victimized by the tech support scheme and sold them to fraudsters who wanted to target those victims again. He also provided bank account information for use by refund fraudsters and kept a portion of the money routed through the accounts, usually 50 to 60 percent.

The other defendants

• Himanshu Asri, 33, pleaded guilty on December 3, 2020, to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and telemarketing wire fraud. He admitted having 325 callers routed to call centers in India, where operators falsely claimed malware had been detected.
• Manish Kumar, 32, pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
• Chirag Sachdeva, 30, was sentenced in November 2020 to 33 months in federal prison.
• Abrar Anjum, 34, pleaded guilty on August 24, 2020, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

All cases were before Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.

Why it matters

Call duration data featured in the plea. More than 7,500 calls lasting over 20 minutes is the kind of metric any routing platform can see. The case also shows that victim phone numbers have resale value to fraudsters, which is why "recovery" and "refund" calls often follow a first scam.

What this means for you

1. Know the business on the receiving end of every call you route.
2. Review long-duration inbound tech support calls for scam indicators.
3. Never sell or share lists of consumers who complained or bought support services.
4. Terminate buyers whose call patterns match known fraud schemes.

A routing platform's data can show fraud. It can also show what the operator knew.