How global hacktivists came together to bust Indian cyber-scammers

In a welllit room a Caucasian man sits at one of the many computers arranged in a circle His headset on and he types intently while speaking through the micldquoIrsquom sorry what am I supposed to dordquoldquoJust be on the line for two to three minutesrdquo says the man at the other end his accent clearly IndianThe conversation goes on for a few minutes and we get the sense that the Caucasian man is talking to an Indian customer service executive regarding an extra payment credited to the formerrsquos account which he has to return All the while he bangs away furiously at the keyboardRishika DesaildquoSordquo he says ldquoshould I just get the money to Kolkata and give it to yourdquoThis is met by a stunned silence followed by a barrage of expletives in Hindi We all know themBut the white man is not doneldquoKausani Is that where you are Hamza PalacerdquoWith each sentence the Indian at the other end gets increasingly aggressive till he disconnects the call But the Caucasian actually an ethical hacker who goes by the name Nacho is still not done In the course of his conversation he has wormed his way into the latterrsquos computer and is now browsing through his photo gallery and email inbox Behind him men and women of various nationalities whoop cheer and exchange high fivesMuch to the embarrassment of the Central government the modus operandi of cybercriminals based in India is becoming increasingly sophisticated and fake callcentres are one of their latest tactics Both the US and the UK have standing advisories on their law enforcement websites cautioning citizens against Indian scam callers The matter was even taken up in the British Parliament in April 2020Over the last ten years scam call centres have been busted all over the country including Mumbai Thane Kolkata and Noida In this 2018 raid by the Delhi police 126 accused were arrested and were alleged to be making as much as 50000 per day by defrauding US citizens PicsGetty ImagesldquoWith regards to our work with India and the Indian Government my noble friend mentioned the City of London Police which as I said is the lead force for economic crime and has partnered with law enforcement and industry to combat callcentre fraud from India and other jurisdictions It has for example partnered with Microsoft which has led industry efforts to combat this kind of fraud and as a consequence of that partnership the City of London Police has supported Microsoft in the initiation of a number of enforcement actions the most recent of which occurred in the Kolkata regionrdquo Baroness Williams of Trafford a member of the House of Lords had told ParliamentThe matter is also brought up at international law enforcement summits every year even as losses to foreign citizens continue to mount Data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last year stated that US citizens suffered losses to the tune of 3 billion in two years While Americans lost 69 billion in 2021 the amount stood at 102 billion just in the first 11 months of last year So much so that the FBI has now deputed a representative at the US Embassy in New Delhi to work with the Indian law enforcementldquoThey use their knowledge of real callcentre operations to target the vulnerable overseas often the elderly or nontech savvyrdquo says Rishika Desai cyber threat researcher at Bengalurubased cybersecurity firm CloudSEKShe elaborates ldquoCybercriminals typically obtain victim data from lead brokers on the dark web or other mediums The targets are often senior in age and less aware of recent technological advancements Once they have this data the cybercriminal uses proxies and VPNs to pose as help desks and support system professionals of reputable organizations They then offer fraudulent services or supportrdquoThe most common modus operandi is simple yet ingeniousmdashthe scammers pose as tax service officials tell the victims that they have outstanding dues which is a federal offence and convince them that police vehicles will soon be pulling up outside their house unless they pay up The ruse worked for a surprising number of years before people got wise to itNow the scammers have moved on to posing as customer support executives of computer or mobile phone manufacturers where they convince the targets to install screensharing apps Once they can see the victimrsquos screen the scammers steal their banking info and clean out their accountsThe Peoplersquos Call Centre was an antiscammer initiative undertaken by a group of scambaitersmdashInternet activists who came together to take on Indian scam callcentres The menace has risen over the years Hundreds of youth work at such callcentres where they spend their days calling citizens of the United States of America and the United Kingdom Earlier these ldquopaymentsrdquo could be in the form of electronic gift cards from leading ecommerce portals Today the scammers even accept cash routed through their own hawala channels back to IndialdquoIt took a couple of years for Indian law enforcement to realise that this was bigger than just one or two clever men with a great ideardquo says a cybersecurity consultant who works with the Government of India ldquoAs months turned into years and increasingly more callcentres were busted they uncovered a network of agents in the US and UK Their agents would convert the value of the gift cards into funds in the accounts of the mastermind and send its equivalent in Indian currency to Indian counterpartsrdquo Over the last 10 years such scamcentres have been busted in Mumbai Thane Kolkata and Noida and the calls still continuePeoplersquos Call Centre spearheaded by ethical hacker Pierogi kicked off on July 25 For two weeks around 100 hackers from around the world baited and uncovered Indian scammersThe first phase was executed in collaboration with AnyDesk a screensharing software normally used by corporate employees It allows employees to access their office computers when working remotely It did not take long for cybercriminals to enlist AnyDesk for nefarious purposes Today it is the number one tool in the hands of telecalling scammers much to the chagrin of its manufacturersIn the first phase of the operation the hacktivists gathered at the headquarters of AnyDesk in Tampa Florida The entire operation was covert uptill the last minute with even the participants kept in the dark about the destinationFor two days Pierogi and friends collected AnyDesk IDsmdashunique identity numbers assigned to each device using the software Whenever one was misused by scammers they called them up using the contact details associated with the IDs It was just a taste of things to come They scammers knew that the hacktivists were coming for them The onslaught was met with abuses and threats Pierogirsquos teammates simply let them rant and hang up After each conversation AnyDesk immediately disabled the ID so that the scammers could never use the software againIn the Peoplersquos Call Centre Phase Two is going strong The hacktivists have infiltrated the scammersrsquo computers using ironically AnyDesk While speaking to them they reversedtraced their IP addresses and now have complete access every time the scammer turns the computer on Gleefully one of the hackers wipes out all the data and leaves a cryptic note for the scammer on his Notepad app The scammer responds ldquoHe just typed md on one of my notesrdquo the hacker says ldquoIrsquom assuming thatrsquos an insultrdquoAnother hacktivist Ryan Montgomery intercepts a scammerrsquos call to a 90yearold American woman Montgomery takes over the conversation with the woman while Pierogi standing right behind him talks to the scammer wasting his time Gently but urgently Montgomery tells the woman to take her computer to her nearest service centre where all intrusive software or programs can be deleted immediatelyIn Phase Three the Peoplersquos Call Centre goes into midnight modemdashall the lights in the room are turned off and dimmer lights are switched on This is not just the most crucial part of the campaign it is also the most funUsing the data collected during Phases One and Two the hacktivists go back into the scammersrsquo computers and turn on their cameras while calling them up at the same timeldquoHello Ravirdquo Pierogi asks pronouncing the name as lsquoRaaveersquo ldquoIs that RavirdquoThe accent alerts Ravi that this could be a scambaiter and he hangs up The hackers then send the live feed from their HQ to Ravirsquos computer and the last image on the screen is a stupefied Ravi staring at himselfParth Sharma is up for even more embarrassment When the hackers turn his computer on he is sitting in his bedroom in nothing but his boxers Amidst snide comments about hygienemdashSharma has apparently been in the same boxers for three days in a rowmdashPierogi calls him up and also shares the live feed with him Sharma flies into a panic cuts the call and then calls someone else to tell them urgently in Hindi that something is going very wrong The entire conversation is captured on cameraldquoIt was a magnificent operationrdquo a central government cyber expert tells midday ldquoNot only did they turn over tonnes of data to the local law enforcement they also found addresses of the hawala agents who move the money from overseas to India Now we also know that scammers are moving from office setups to their own houses We are still getting more details on thisrdquoIndia CallingScamster Hello is this XXXXVictim YesS This is XXXX from the Internal Revenue ServiceV Oh my GodS Irsquom afraid so MarsquoamV Am I in troubleS Well thatrsquos what we need to talk about I have your tax filings in front of me here and what I can see is that you owe the US government upwards of 10000 dollars as of todayV Oh myhellipwhat How can that beS You tell me Marsquoam Itrsquos your taxes that are the problemV Ok there must be some mistake here because my CPA alwayshellipS I can only tell you what my records tell me Marsquoam And this is a federal offence wersquore talking about Irsquom sure you follow the newsV Oh Godyeah yeah I mean I do know itrsquos a serious offenceS Thatrsquos right My superiors want to send a squad car to your house to pick you up right now unless you settle your pending dues immediatelyV Oh no Please My kids are in the house My neighbours are around Oh my GodS Okay okay I need you to calm down There is a way out of this but you need to work with me hereV Anything Just tell me what to doS How much can you pay up front We need to resolve this fast so that it doesnrsquot become a problem for the both of usV Sure what do you needS Write down this address You need to meet this person tomorrow and give him Apple gift cards worth 5000V But thatrsquos too much I donrsquot have that kind of money lying aroundS How much can you manageV Maybe 1000S No good We need at least 3000V I can do 1500 Thatrsquos the highest I can goS Okay thatrsquos a start We can work with that Thank you XXXXX We shall speak again