Scam call centres that target people abroad
Call centres in India that pose as tech support or government agencies cheat people in the US, UK, Japan and elsewhere. A victim abroad has no simple way to report them to Indian police.
Open for ideas, evidence and questions.
What we know
The CBI's Operation Chakra, run with the FBI, the UK's National Crime Agency, Japan's police and Microsoft, has raided several such centres. In May 2025 it shut two call centres that targeted people in Japan and arrested six people. In July 2025 it raided a call centre in the Noida Special Economic Zone accused of cheating people in the UK and Australia of about £390,000.
India's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal asks for an Indian mobile number to register, so a foreign victim cannot file a complaint on it. In 2024 The Quint reported that the portal was effectively closed to victims outside India.
Open questions
- How many call centres targeting foreigners were raided in your state, and how many cases ended in conviction?
- Should the national portal accept complaints from abroad, in English, verified by email?
- How do these centres rent office space, hire staff and get paid, through gift cards, crypto or payment firms?
- How long does it take India to answer a foreign police request for evidence in a fraud case?
- What happens to the young people hired into these centres, many of whom are told it is an ordinary BPO job?
- What do these scams cost the reputation of India's honest IT and outsourcing firms?
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