This Internet Vigilante Took Down a Whole Network of Indian Scammers

By Annie N. in For The Win On 23rd March 2021
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An ethical hacker by the name of Jim Browning collaborated with the BBC to take down a scam network operating from India.

The cyber vigilante gained access to the cameras at their offices and managed to show the world the inner workings of the place.

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Jim Browning, which is not his real name, went through hundreds of hours of video of an office in Gurugram, Delhi and listened to more than 70,000 calls.

He managed to collect this vital data and brought it to the BBC which released parts on its platform as a documentary.

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One scammer, who was pretending to be a ‘Chris Lawson’ from San Jose, California, scammed a man out of £1,295 while he was crying.

The British man revealed on the phone that he suffered from depression but ‘Chris’ continued with his manipulation as he pretended to ‘fix’ the computer.

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Another victim, who only had £90 in his bank account was told to pay £150 for repairs. The man can be heard telling the scammer, “I was going to use the £150 to buy some shopping with today so that's buggered that and all sir.”

 

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One victim of the scam, Dave Matika was told that his identity was stolen to view child porn which terrified him.

He said, “I could strangle the geezer, I really could”

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The scam reportedly brings in over $400,000 per month.

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Pauline Nichols was asked if she was viewing pornographic materials.

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'I feel angry. Angry and upset. Angry that someone could do that knowing that there's nothing wrong with the computer, just to extort money from you - and upset with myself that I fell for it'

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It starts with a scam pop-up with a fake report stating that there is something wrong with the PC. The prompt also contains a phone number to ‘fix’ the problem.

When unsuspecting people make the call, they’re hooked into the scam and swindled out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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‘Amit Chauhan’, who ran the company was heard saying, “We don’t give a f*ck about the customers”

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Jim Browning then decided to make a call himself which lead to a very interesting conversation.

Jim: 'Can you name me one restaurant in San Jose?'

Scammer: 'What kind of question is that, sir? Book your ticket to California and you will find me'.

The scammer then proceeded to google the information.

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Amit Chauhan has since been arrested as a result of the documentary. Unfortunately these scammers usually just change building and start all over again.

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