How Call Center Scams Actually Work | How Crime Works | Insider
Jim Browning is a software engineer and an expert on scam call centers. His KZhead channel baits scammers by gaining access to their computers, observing them through CCTV, and hacking into their networks. He then conveys this information to law enforcement.
Call center scams manipulate victims into disclosing personal and financial information over the phone. These centers typically impersonate credible companies like Amazon and Microsoft or government agencies like the IRS.
Browning speaks to Business Insider about the structure of scam call centers’ offices, recruitment and payroll. He also discusses covers money laundering, the role of police and law enforcement, and solutions for data security.
Find his KZhead channel here:
/ @jimbrowning
Anyone who has fallen victim to an online scam can report it to the Federal Trade Commission reportfraud.ftc.gov/
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - The Bait
02:40 - Fake Offices
03:59 - The Hierarchy
06:18 - The Money
08:34 - Finding Victims
10:01 - The Disguise
11:23 - Scammer Language
12:11 - Hacking CCTV
14:35 - The Arrests
16:19 - The Recruitment
18:10 - The Signs
20:04 - The Backstory
21:54 - Credits
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How Call Center Scams Actually Work | How Crime Works | Insider
I work for a bank. Every day, I get dozens of reports from people who've been scammed by fake call centers. 99% of the victims are 65 and older. It's gotten so out of control, now when we have to call customers to discuss legitimate business, they think WE'RE the scammers and refuse to talk to us.
I always apologize to the person on the phone when I get a call from the bank, and let them know that I am going to hang up and either walk into the bank at a local branch to take care of the matter in person, or that I'm going to call my bank back from a different phone using the customer service number on my statement, because I do not trust any incoming calls. And it usually this time of year that I get these calls from the bank, because Christmas shopping means more frequent and larger purchases than I normally make other times of the year, and they notice the activity on my credit cards. This is also why I don't use debit cards, and I don't do online banking. Too many ways for those things to be hacked.
We see SO many customers dealing with scammers at the post office as well, especially elderly individuals seeking to purchase money orders they wish to send to a "family in need" or to some other fund that would supposedly release the millions they've inherited from a long lost relative. I'm sure you've heard them all. Fortunately, with the BSA, there are some protections that exist, and "elder abuse" is an option we can and absolutely do select if a transaction seems suspicious. Sometimes, just asking if they actually know the recipient personally is enough to make them think twice about sending large sums of money through the mail. Just yesterday, in fact, we helped intercept and recover a mail piece with a $30K check in it. The customer's son realized what had happened and asked us to help him initiate the parcel intercept. I could feel his sigh of relief over the phone.
It's the generation that grew up through trust and without technology. Hopefully in a few decades, the old people would be less vulnerable to this type of scam.
A bank will never call
@@michaeltaylor8835-- As a general rule, that's correct. But if you've signed up for your bank's fraud protection service, where they ARE supposed to call you if they see unusual credit card activity, then you might get a call. But I still never trust that incoming call to be genuine, even if the phone number shows up as one associated with my bank, or with the credit card. Because I don't trust anybody who calls me out of the blue, and because phone numbers can be spoofed. So I apologize to the caller, hang up, and then I call the number on the back of the credit card or another phone number that I know belongs to my bank, or I just go into a local branch to see if the call was legitimate.
Been watching this guy for some years now and his work is awesome, we need more people like him
He does it so well. He's definitely one that I signed up for Patreon for.
A legend that sadly could build a career on these common crimes. Microsoft, Apple, Meta and so on can’t care less about this.
ScammerRevolts, and Kitboga to name a couple 🙃
Hopefully he's making a mint teaching other's to do this.
There is alot of them
except just stopping scams, this dude has the talent to make all his videos informative and entertaining.
I agree. Letting him do the drama for us is fine with me.
Just another documentary that leads to nada. The large companies could stop this if they actually cared about crime on their platforms and so on.
I love his videos
Jim Browning is the best at what he does..
I had a coworker who was Indian, with a recognisable accent. His primary job was calling people who'd expressed interest in our service and explaining more about it, but given his accent, so many people shut him down immediately. Of course, when I, Aussie born and bred, called, they were interested again! It's such a shame that the prevalence of these call centres in India means a good guy can hardly do his genuine job
😂😂
It's time they let that man go. He is a liability because of his own people. I know not all people are like that, but you can say a majority of scam calls are a Indian
@@JuanMejia-md8re that's called discrimination and is incredibly illegal.
@@NBVagabond well people rejected him needs. He is probably not making sales
@@JuanMejia-md8re wow, you work there do you? You know the exact details of his sales numbers? Or are you just making assumptions about something you know next to nothing about
I was once going door to door as a sales agent and one time this elderly lady opened the door and asked if I could come back later as she was interested but she was busy on the computer with an issue. I asked her what the issue is and she was like I tried online banking the other day and it seems I made a mistake which is costing me some money now to fix. Immediate red flags, I told her if she did not feel comfortable banking online why not visit the branch to get it sorted, she said she suggested the same but the agent on the phone said it was only possible through her computer cause that's where the issue originated. I told her to visit her bank confirm the issue and for now to pull the plug on the computer. I am not 100% she was being scammed but I could not let her go without giving the safer advice to confirm in-person at a branch.
I'll take " That didn't happen" for $500
@@Diablo_CST unfortunately not all of us have uneventful lifes like yours. If you want more details about the event you can look up The Acquisition Group which was the company I worked for back then, they mainly handled the door to door promotion of Telus. Now there are a few more vendors that also facilitate this service to Telus. Telus is a company providing home internet, TV and SHS (smart home security) on the west of Canada, AB and BC to be more specific. If you live in any major city in either of the two provinces where Telus provides fiber internet services you are likely to have them visit your area.
I had a similar story.. I work in a call centre - unrelated to banking - but I had an elderly customer who clearly described a money transfer scam, and that she couldn't pay us but once she paid a fee to release some funds, she'd be able to sort her bill out. I immediately tried to explain it to her, but she didn't get it so I ended up transferring her to a consultant at her bank and explained the situation. Obviously I don't have an update on it but I do wonder if she ended up ok
@@Diablo_CST😂😂😂😂😂😂
She was 1000% being scammed
We're lucky this guy is on our side. Imagine if he wasn't. 😮
😂. He has two sides. 😂
Then we wouldn't know about it.
That would probably mean WE'RE the scammers!
There are thousands who aren’t on our side… who do you think is doing the scams?
Jim Browning A Legend, as many others that go after Scammers.
Sad that so many channels can live on these crimes. The corrupted Indian police can’t care less since they scammers don’t target Indian citizens. It’s the same with Russian hackers that avoids Russian companies and thereby can operate without any problems.
Willing to bet there’s a percentage cut to operate.
@@stefanjohansson2373 Live on these crimes? People like him are taking down call centers to prevent people from being scammed. The indian police do not care because they are paid off by the scammers.
@@stefanjohansson2373The difference is Indian police don’t have much connection to the scammers beyond occasional buy-offs, but the Russian government makes an effort to protect its cyber criminals because those criminals target people from unfriendly nations.
@@stefanjohansson2373 You are 100% correct. Indian politicians even view scam call centers as providing employment and bringing in money into the country. Shameful. India should be disconnected from the Internet.
The problem is that the scammers themselves don't see themselves as the bad guys. They think that living in a developed country like the US or the UK is enough reason for them to justify scamming them. They'll often compare the life of a stereotypical average American vs their own country on how corrupt their government is and how poor their people are, and think money on developed countries is easy and can just earn it back.
To add to this: When you hear them talk, it seems like a lot of them have a genuine hatred of Westerners and thus they have no empathy and no regrets about the people they’re scamming
Hard to think otherwise when you've lived in poverty your entire life
Well and the US regularly colonizers and bleeds other countries under the guise of “fighting for freedom.” We’re the same bad guy in many other places.
By "developed countries" you mean countries that built their fortune with slave labor, stolen land and stolen resources. Oh but it's ok when we do it huh? People act like because time passed it's no longer theft. If i stole a thousand dollars from you it doesnt matter how much time passes you still want your money back right? Now imagine I also stole your home, your people, everything you've ever known and loved. Yes they're right to hate the people who are STILL benefiting from their suffering. "Developed countries" that's the PC way of saying white colonizer countries
@@imeakdo7 still dont justify the scammers actions, they're still guilty nonetheless
I need to say the "Hii mom i lost my phone" scam is my fav to get. I don't have human kids, but i have 3 cats... "Are Misty, Vlok, or Snow? I didn't know that cats could text." 😂
So, you are a CAT then?
“Hi Grandma!” is another scam-my own mother nearly fell for that one. Caution your loved ones against these despicable thieves.
Those especially make me mad.
I know of a driver named Ken who's own son or grandson (forgot which one it was) that actually works for the feds himself. So he got himself a perfect plan to go against those kinds of assholes in particular.
Jim Browning has his own channel, viewers should check out the good work he does day in and day out, selflessly. My salute to you and others like you Jim. ✌🙌
Jim Browning is a legend. You're doing the Lord's work, mate. Keep it up!
Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they wear a hoodie like this guy!
Hearing that one about the scammers in London who do SMS scams reminds me of one time where scammers tried scamming my tech savvy dad texting him telling him I'd dropped my phone down the toilet and got a new phone. He texted me and when I obviously said it was false, his response was 'I'm going to have some fun with them'.
For me, the most disturbing thing about these scams isn't that they happen. It is that the governments of the countries where the majority of the victims live (USA, Western Europe, Canada, Australia) never seem to be able to do anything about it. What LE agency is responsible for prosecuting malicious actors who target your citizens, but are not located in your country?
Your military. Don't think we will attack India over some old people who got scammed😂
If the foreign scammers were doing something that took taxes out of the IRS pockets, you can be SURE the government could suddenly find a way to shut these scammers down, no matter where on the planet they were located.
Department of Defense. This is the only recourse regarding foreign threats to your citizens.
They do do sth about it. They collaborate with police in India.
Scams and governments are fictional.
Jim Browning is the GOAT of scambaiting! The scambaiting community is better because of him. Cheers and let's shut down the scam call centers.
yeah he's not a soy boy like kit boga
If only people had half of Jim's integrity we would be in a much better place
The best thing you can do to protect yourself from scams such as these is remember that no legitimate vendor will EVER call you claiming to know you have an issue. Likewise with the popups you should treat those as cold calls. Meaning there is no obligation for you to call that number. They're trying to sell you a scam and it's up to you to say no.
This man is a modern day hero. Thank you
Jim Browning is a modern day super hero. Along with all the other scam bait community. Keep up the good work and educate the elderly and non-tech savvy people in the world so this crooked business is shut down forever!
I watched that Telemarketers docuseries on Max, and the lack of laws and regulations against scam call centers in the United States is infuriating. Not surprised at the lack of concern from law enforcement in other countries.
Scammers almost got my grandmother to fall for the "Detained at the embassy scam" by role playing as my brother. He applied for a passport that same year and had just come off a streak of international travel. I'm convinced they obtained knowledge of his passport, or some other paper trail of international travel to make the scam more believable.
Did he have any public social media? I wouldn't be shocked to learn there's scammers out there searching up the family members of potential victims to see if there's any public info they can use against their loved ones.
@@writheagainsoon friend worked in a legitimate (non scam) call center, when they ran out of contacts in the database, sometimes operators were tasked with browsing local classifieds to collect info to call, one time I volunteered to help them find advertising platforms, tons of companies didn't have their phone numbers on the website so I had to follow their social media to find it. So it is possible. However, generally, scammers don't do all this work, instead they follow the same procedure as fortune tellers and street con men: assume most likely situation. If it's a woman past 50, they just call about problems with her son: an arrest or accident usually. I watched my mom's eyes widen as a scammer pretended to be her son claimed to be detained as _bro was standing in front of her._
I operated a scam call center for 5 years. Sounds like it was one of our calls, almost had her!
I don't think they have the time to spend researching each potential victim like that. I think it's mainly a numbers game, and they generally have a script they stick to for the most part. At some point someone will fall for it or think the story is more than a coincidence. Kind of like psychics who do cold reads. They just keep going until they hit on information that sounds like it applies to your life. I watched an interview with a scammer once who said that it was something like 1 out of 50 or even 1 out of 100 callers that will fall for the scam. It was a high number, I think closer to out of 100. But when something sounds related to events in your life, it is very hard to doubt. I'm glad you said they almost got her and assume something or someone got involved (hopefully). They're always finding new ways to trick people so videos like Jim Brownings are very helpful to stay educated.
Jim is one of the greatest warriors of our time! 🙌
No Pierogi is
Dayum, they got Jim Browning for this! He's a legend in the hacker world.
A true here of our days, a digital Batman protecting the less fortunate. Never stop my man! We love you!
Jim, the legend ! The OG of scam baiting. Thank you for doing this. And many thanks to Jim, with full support.
Excellent information. Have sidestepped many scam approaches because of his informative videos. His work and the work of the others in interfering with scammers should be a model for law enforcement. We need effective fraud detection and prevention legislation. Thank you for airing this video.
Well, if the system would stop proping up scam centers. The same telecommunication company's that set their call centers in india made the same scam call centers at the same time
Yessss one of the best scam hunter ❤ I loved the letters he would get and his responses😂😂😂
Mr Browning always explains the technical processes of what he does and I really like that
I've been following Browning's channel for about a year, am amazed he finally gets a How Crime Works vid
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. My Mother was a victim. Now we always keep up with you and your invaluable advice…..
I worked at a call center that turned out to just be a front for money laundering they are still up and running unfortunately. Also the amount of people who automatically assume every Indian is a scam is horrible i get it
*That's just people esp muricans who use THESE criminals as a excuse to show their racism to you😊. Ignore em. Without these criminals too they'll be nasty to you.*
I don’t assume because that’s just nationalist, but it does activate my bullshit detector. I wish it didn’t have to be like that, but given the raw data for how many scammers are Indians and how many Indians that I specifically am likely to interact with are scammers, what can I do?
Its like your country has a motive to stop the corruption and hit these centers?
I love J.B. This guy is a legend
I was confused when Insider posted this, thinking that other channels have already exposed it a long time ago... Then I saw the legend and it all makes sense now
Thank you Mr Browning for spreading about the full screen malicious ads that runs in the browser full screen. Hit ESC to exit full screen or crtl+alt+delete to restart or sign out.
Used to get multiple calls a day/week from a scam call center. After using the information Jim gives in his videos, I've managed to get on their do-not-call list. Just naming any number of buildings or locations he's outed in his investigations gets them to hang up on me
It's a real shame so few people are looking out for the victims of these scams. you are a modern day hero. I wish things could be better...
I, personally, get a kick out of the BS they try to pull. I go along all the time just to mess with them. They don't call much anymore
I have been following Jim for several years now and appreciate you spotlighting the incredible work he is doing!!
in cases like operating India, the incentive is that the goverment actually like them as long as they bring revenue to the goverment, hence local police and some regional gov will cooperate with them. These international scammers effectively operate outside of international legal boundaries but within the protection of local governance. There's no way to root them out and you just have to be careful not to cross those scammers.
Scammers are terrified of Jim Browning. Anytime I trolled scammers asking how they like it when people like Jim shut them down, the scammer’s reactions have spoken for themselves. 😂
I have seen his KZhead channel over the last few years and I really admire his abilito outscam the scammers. And and it's nice to know somebody like him is out there.
You have to wonder how these people live with themselves after stealing money from the most vulnerable people in society. Wonder how they would react if their grandparent was scammed by a fellow scammer.
I don’t think they care about that. All they see is money and sales targets. These scammers have no conscience.
I've been scammed $10,000 before, but not based on people like these. It was someone highly manipulative that played my emotions and came up with these horrific scenarios that made me think I was doing the right thing by donating money to them. Do not fall for these scammers people, always talk to your relatives and friends first before giving away money to someone else! I'm financially fine nowadays, but it was a huge hit, and I now know that these scammers deserve absolutely zero mercy, because their sense of morality is all gone.
Jesus if they got me for that much I believe I'd be hiring mercenaries then immediately turning myself into the cops lmao.
I feel you was scam $1500 last year because I tried to buy 200 acid tabs and 50 molly pills off the dark web and they sent me email by the shipping department saying that the package needs insurance to be delivered and Insurance cost about $1000 and is refund able once I gave them the grand they waited a couple days and said you package is on hold again and you need clearance to deliver it. They said clearance cost another $5000 dollars and we will refund you $6000 once you pay it. I asked them to forget about it and asked for my money back. They said no everything is being cancelled because you refuse to pay for clearance 🤦🏾♂️
Jim Browning is THE legend
Been watching him for a while and he is truly in it for the right reasons. He will call people when they're in the middle of being scammed and warn them
I’ve been watching Jim for years and he is amazing and his videos are so interesting. Best scambaiter out there and actually making a real impact
also Scammer Payback he is awsome it is such a good Saturday when he uploades
Although I've seen all this before I'm very happy to watch it again.
I think I worked for a scam company in Barcelona back in the late noughties. Once I realised what they were, I upped and out of there as quick a you'd like. I didn't enjoy calling random people round the world, trying to sell them insurance, only to find out many of the people had already passed or were elderly etc.
Jim Browning has his own channel, viewers should check out the good work he does day in and day out, selflessly. My salute to you and others like you Jim.
Jim Browning is the man
Jim, you´re a legend. We all thank you for your work.
Jim Browning is an absolute legend
Jim Browning GOAT !!!! @jimbrowning thank you for your trailblazing work and for inspiring so many other wonderful scam baiters who are actively helping victims and fighting these criminals.
Superb breakdown of how scams work.Thank you
I just got a scam phone call for amazon and I told the person on the other end of the phone to stop scamming people and their excuse was "I Just need the money," which is a terrible excuse because needing money isn't an excuse to scamming people
Jim is an awesome dude. I've been watching his for years
Browning and Kitboga out here doing work against these scammers.
What a great person. This is legit inspiring.
Jim is a legend!
I got a scam call yesterday, the woman on the phone sounded like she was crying after I asked her how much of the 'sale' she got to keep vs how much the boss got to keep. She managed to get out '50 iindian rupees' before being quite for a moment and hanging up. First time I actually started to feel sorry for them. But then I remembered that they know they're doing scams and still making the calls.... so... meh.
Jim... my man! Jim the Hero.
Jim Browning does great work. But no one is infallible. It was sobering to learn that scammers got control of his popular YT channel. I was glad he shared openly about it as a lesson to all of us to remain critical and slow down when responding to inquiries.
Jim Browning is AMAZING!!
Saw some videos of this guy through the years, amazing operator.
Excellent segment. This man is doing Gods work.
That was well put together jim thank you from warren Melbourne Australia
I've watched so much of Jim and Kitboga that I could have taken this one easily lmao. Legends.
Been watching Jim forever - didn’t realize it would be him when I clicked the video. Good watch!
Been following Jim for years. He is a legend!
The Legend. The Great Jim Browning.
Jim Browning is fantastic,great work
I watch him and he does awesome work! Thanks
Jim Browning is a LEGEND
I'm familiar with his work, that man is a hero. His attitude towards the people running the scams is remarkably even and empathetic for someone willing to expend such a great amount of effort into shutting them down. That shows his character and the world is better off because of him.
I blame social media sites for not having the correct moderation policies to enforce scamming Just a few days ago I witnessed a scammer in the comments section of a video. The comment was ‘send me a message on messenger and I will bless you’ to me anyone with a brain can clearly see that that’s an attempt to steal someone’s money. I reported them but Facebook came back and said ‘this person did not violate a policy’ Ridiculous
I work for a legit call center and we absolutely should NOT have to use our real names and location. You have no idea how psychotic some people are. People will look you up and stalk you because they decided you're evil somehow.
love ya jim!! your work is a blessing for the cyberworld!
Awesome to see this absolute legend on business insider
WE 💕 JIM BROWNING!!! He's a 🔥 scam baiter!!!
The best guy online!
This man is awesome!!!!!
Doin gods work. Even back in 2017-2018 my wife’s grandma was getting scam calls that she said sounded like my wife & I asking for money. Scary how bad this can be
Absolutely adore this guy!
They got ma boi Jim!!!! What a legend ✨
Bro this guy is a literal superhero.......SUPERHERO!!!!!
Thank you for helping fighting scam call!
I am glad this is finally hitting the mainstream media. It needs to be discussed so we can keep the vulnerable educated.
Jim Browning is the GOAT. I’ve been following him and a guy named Perogi for a while.
I don’t know this guy but I do know others like him who have so much talent in this and it’s amazing and funny to watch
Jim I have been watched your videos for years. THEY KNOW WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE. It is amusing that you have hood on. You are amazing. I watch your videos weekly. More of them!
Jim browning is a legend I've been watching since years
Keep up the great work JB !! :)
I like to play the “do do do this number no longer exists tone” on a separate device and record it as my voicemail so when they call if it’s a human they think it’s an inactive number.
Jim is a great fella, you know one time my car broke down - it was a stormy night, dark. As luck would have it, Jim appeared out of the nearby forrest and asked, "Hey mate, car broke down innit?" I said, "Yeah...just my luck man..." and that's when he told me, "No no...this is the scam. This is how they get you...!!". Saved my life, he did.
💀
I knew it would be Jim on this, lol. He's a beast.
It’s a good thing that Jim is on our side
Thx for a very educational video!
Yaa baby! That is what ive been waiting for, this is what its all about!