HT TECH wants to start sending you push notifications. Click allow to subscribe

How Indian BPOs cheat foreigners

It's about 5pm. Backpack-laden young men and women pour out of cabs and auto-rickshaws and take a lift to the sixth-floor call centre of Saburi TLC, past a company motto inscribed in bright orange, “If you work only for money, you will never make it”. In 15 minutes, they diffuse into a maze of blue-and-white cubicles where they will spend the next eight hours with a computer, a desk phone and a pair of black headphones. There are hundreds of similar call centres in the neighbourhood. But Saburi TLC is different, a shadowy outfit accused of being among the biggest players in a thriving tech-support fraud that cons unsuspecting foreigners into buying expensive security software for their perfectly normal computers. The charges against Saburi TLC are just the tip of a growing rot in India's $110-billion business process outsourcing (BPO) industry that is being potentially hollowed out by fraud businesses thriving in the absence of strong regulation and oversight. “Anyone doing bad things is not good for us because the impression gets generalised. In the mind of those affected by the scam it's not a company or a person, it becomes a country,” says Raman Roy, chairman of India's main IT industry lobby NASSCOM.

By: HT STAFF
Updated on: Apr 11 2017, 15:27 IST

You may be interested in

Mobiles Tablets Laptops
28% OFF
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G
  • Green
  • 12 GB RAM
  • 256 GB Storage
₹107,999₹149,999
Buy now
Google Pixel 8 Pro
  • Obsidian
  • 12 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹106,998
Check details
Vivo X100 Pro 5G
  • Asteroid Black
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 512 GB Storage
₹89,999
Check details
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
  • Black
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹87,900
Check details
21% OFF
Acer Swift Go SFG14 41 NX KG3SI 002 Laptop
  • Pure Silver
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
₹58,999₹74,999
Buy now
41% OFF
Acer Aspire 5 A515 57G Laptop
  • Gray
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
₹52,990₹89,999
Buy now
22% OFF
Acer Aspire 3 A315 24 NX KDESI 004 Laptop
  • Silver
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
₹33,499₹42,999
Buy now
40% OFF
Asus VivoBook 15 X515JA BQ322WS Laptop
  • Transparent Silver
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
₹31,350₹51,990
Buy now
35% OFF
Xiaomi Pad 6
  • Mist Blue
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹25,999₹39,999
Buy now
55% OFF
Lenovo Tab M10 5G
  • Abyss Blue
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹20,999₹47,000
Buy now
32% OFF
Realme Pad 2
  • Imagination Grey
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹19,689₹28,999
Buy now
Honor Pad X9
  • Gray
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹14,999
Check details
First Published Date: 11 Apr, 14:14 IST

Sale

Mobiles Tablets Laptops
4% OFF
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
  • Titanium Black
  • 12 GB RAM
  • 256 GB Storage
₹129,999₹134,999
Buy now
7% OFF
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
  • Black Titanium
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 256 GB Storage
₹148,900₹159,900
Buy now
13% OFF
Xiaomi 14
  • Matte Black
  • 12 GB RAM
  • 512 GB Storage
₹69,999₹79,999
Buy now
10% OFF
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
  • Black
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹80,990₹89,900
Buy now
57% OFF
Lenovo Tab M10 5G
  • Abyss Blue
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹19,999₹47,000
Buy now
38% OFF
Realme Pad 2
  • Imagination Grey
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹17,999₹28,999
Buy now
13% OFF
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 5G 256GB
  • Graphite
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 256 GB Storage
₹88,058₹101,398
Buy now
28% OFF
realme Pad 2 WiFi
  • Imagination Grey
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
₹17,999₹24,999
Buy now
23% OFF
Infinix INBook X1 Neo XL22 Laptop Intel Celeron Quad Core 8 GB 256 GB SSD Windows 11
  • Blue
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 128 GB SSD
₹22,990₹29,990
Buy now
36% OFF
Infinix INBook X1 Pro Laptop
  • Black
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 256 GB SSD
₹44,990₹69,999
Buy now
29% OFF
Asus VivoBook 15 X515JA EJ522TS Laptop
  • Grey
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
₹44,689₹62,889
Buy now
34% OFF
Asus ROG Strix G17 G713QM K4215TS Laptop
  • Black
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 1 TB SSD
₹180,990₹272,990
Buy now