The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has shut down operations of a call centre in India, alleging that it defrauded hundreds of elderly people in the United States and other countries, siphoning off millions of dollars through the tech support scams.
Two senior executives who operated “a business that enabled it” have admitted to not keeping an eye on the call centre and its alleged malpractices, the FBI said in a post on X.
The developments come after an investigation by FBI Boston led to “arrests and convictions of a former employee of their call routing company, and five India-based telemarketing fraudsters”,
“Our senior citizens deserve honor, respect, and protection, and if you target them, we will do everything we can to bring you to justice,” said the FBI in the post.
Former CEO Adam Young and former CSO Harrison Gevirtz have admitted to operating a business that offered telecommunications services to customers they knew were engaged in tech-support scams. Both Young and Gevirtz pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony and are scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, 2026.
In a statement on X, the FBI further wrote: “What the CEO and CSO of this well-known call tracking and analytics company did was downright despicable. By their own admission, they willfully profited from telemarketing and tech support scammers, here and abroad, who preyed on the elderly, exploited the vulnerable, and drained victims of their life savings and peace of mind. Behind every fraudulent call was a real person left frightened, humiliated, or financially shattered.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in an X post that FBI Boston shut down a major scam call center operation in India that targeted elderly victims in the US, with two executives pleading guilty.
“These people defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans out of millions using tech support scams. This FBI dismantled them,” Patel posted. He added that senior scams are “one of the most important but under-discussed issues in the country” and urged the public to check in on loved ones and report suspicious activity to 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Giving out the numbers, the FBI stated that such tech support scams have cost Americans $2.1 billion last year. Residents of Rhode Island reported losing a minimum of $5.7 million.
Source: Indian Express