American senior citizens were duped out of more than $3 billion in the last two years, largely from illegal call centers and phishing groups based in India, the Times of India has reported, citing FBI data. It’s a trend that shows no sign of abating. In the last 11 months, Americans of all age groups lost $10.2 billion because of online and call center-related scams—an increase of 47% over last year’s $6.9 billion.
The FBI is so alarmed they’ve taken specific action in India. Read on to find out what it is, and how to avoid being scammed by recognizing the most common fraudsters.
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Online Scams Involve Ads
According to the FBI, there are two main avenues of online fraud: Search engine ads that link malicious websites to software that resembles legitimate applications and ads that promote phishing sites (or sites designed to gather credit card or other financial information).
These ads often mimic personal finance platforms, the Times of India reports. Fraud cases related to “tech support” have increased by more than 130% annually and cost Americans $347 million in 2021 and $781 million from January to November 2022. Year-to-year, these crimes increased 128% in 2022.
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FBI Now Looking More Closely At India
According to the Times of India, the FBI has permanently placed an agent at the American embassy in New Delhi to work closely with authorities to take down the fraudsters, including freezing money transferred through wires and cryptocurrencies.
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