Indian pleads guilty in telemarketing scam in US
Washington, August 25
An Indian national in the US has pleaded guilty to the charges of participating in a “tech support” telemarketing scam based in India.
Under the scam, call centre operators falsely represented themselves to be associated with Microsoft Corporation, falsely represented to victims that malware or viruses had been detected on their computers, and offered supposed services to remove the malware, according to the Department of Justice.
Abrar Anjum, 34, admitted to the court that he allowed members of the conspiracy to use bank accounts under his control in the US to receive funds taken from victim accounts.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, three years’ supervised release and a fine of USD 250,000.
Anjum was arrested by the FBI agents on February 3, this year prior to his boarding a flight to India from the John F Kennedy International Airport. He was arraigned the next day in US District Court in Providence.
The “tech support” scheme operated out of call centres in India.
Anjum admitted that in return for allowing members of the conspiracy to deposit fraudulently obtained funds into his bank accounts, he was allowed to keep a portion of the funds.
He transferred the remaining funds to his co-conspirators in India, federal prosecutors said.
Anjum remains detained in federal custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 21. PTI
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