- 11 hours ago
Scam Interceptors - Season 5 Episode 9 -
Free AirPods with Every Scam
Free AirPods with Every Scam
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00:00if you talk to me then I will guide you every day we're being bombarded by
00:05scammers I've got no money in the bank I'm on I have to pay but we are fighting
00:12back working with ethical hacker Jim Browning who hacks into scam call
00:17centers we can tap into this criminal network and track down the victims to
00:23stop the scammers before they steal you should not buy those different you're
00:27gonna lose your money what's that what's that I can assure you that nothing
00:31they're saying is true you're on the phone to a scammer malloc you need to hang up
00:34the phone this is scam interceptors on today's episode
00:48siraj is that siraj siraj this is rab wilding scam interceptors program we
00:55confront the scammers behind some of the nastiest scams we've heard siraj why
01:00are you scamming people yeah why are you trying to steal from people siraj yeah
01:06I'm not very
01:12okay so then I'm further complete this application okay this morning we're
01:17listening in to the criminal activity taking place at a call center located in
01:22Lahore Pakistan so ma'am I'm simply said a date of end of every month okay your
01:28monthly and of every month okay but thanks to ethical hacker Jim Browning's tech
01:34wizardry we can't just hear these scammers we can see them too he's hacked into the
01:43office's security cameras Jim has basically been able to map the whole room so we know pretty much
01:52who's sat where in that room and exactly who it is we're going to be listening to I mean they're
01:56operating in many ways like an ordinary sales team would do they're starting on time they have breaks
02:02structured into their day and Jim I think that's pretty much correct across the board isn't it in
02:06terms of this kind of work yeah almost every scam call center has the same sort of setup so they
02:11will definitely have targets to meet if you don't meet those targets you can get ultimately you can
02:17get sacked as a result so they only want the best of the best people who will actually get money for
02:23the bosses with that in mind where we are right now we are at the end of a month that potentially
02:29could mean this lot are going to try even harder to hit certain targets you will find they will be
02:34quite aggressive to get those targets so even if somebody is ill or someone isn't cooperative they
02:41will have these rebuttals these statements that they can use to keep somebody engaged unbelievable
02:47Jim thank you the scammers have no idea that we are watching their every move and gathering
02:55information on who they are Fizan is this guy here I'm pretty sure that's him yes yeah that's why he's
03:04got boss man standing over him right now this is advanced okay we know that the scanner on the
03:09call is called Fizan he is one of 20 workers in this office run by a company called Tech Harbor
03:17Solutions not to be confused with other companies with a similar name I'm telling you that at this
03:24time I'm simply cancel the previous all the bills under your name okay and they're all managed by these
03:33two people that is the boss man in there isn't it the corner goes it is him and her yeah these two
03:39these two are like the floor managers of this room so I'm simply said I drag David under your name okay
03:45the scammer is talking to a woman somewhere in the UK he's pretending to be from her mobile phone
03:51provider three he's claiming he can offer her a better deal on her contract and a free gift if she
03:58signs up for the new offer so this is the phone scam again ma'am if you don't mind please open your
04:04WhatsApp okay I'm sending your full name but we know Fizan isn't from three and all he's interested
04:12in is getting this woman's personal information and bank details so that he can place an order for a
04:18pricey mobile phone in her name but that must be a quite an advanced stage the one you've just picked
04:25up on now I've been 15 minutes in the call though we have this person's mobile number scammer Fizan
04:31is speaking to her on it we need another way of contacting her yeah I'm sending out again text you
04:37okay in your WhatsApp okay you check I mentioned your name is correct oh my goodness if you don't mind
04:46I'm really sorry okay it's correct we've heard a name Rhonda McDonald whilst the team looks for
04:54more information on her the scammer may have given us an opportunity to get Rhonda's attention so she's
05:01going to be checking messages if we need to send one because she's going to be checking her phone
05:06now number guys read that number out Harley zero seven the scammer is trying to get Rhonda to receive
05:16a WhatsApp message in order to confirm her name and email address so we want to make sure she sees our
05:23warning message when she looks at her phone so if we can send that text now Nick yeah because we know
05:29she's checking her phone but a clearly distressed Rhonda isn't playing ball with the scammers
05:35with Rhonda slipping from the scammers grasp he changes tactic reminding her of the amazing half
05:53price deal she is signing up to so I'm simply going to be 10 pounds under your name and Sarah one bill
06:00in the five part okay so it's five times but to set up the deal the scammer wants Rhonda's bank details
06:09I'm telling you where to seek short code and AD account number for the set of drug debit under your
06:15name given her distress we need to speak to Rhonda as soon as we can can we try and call
06:39it just in case it gets her off the phone call waiting let's try I know she's on that phone
06:44Rhonda has now been on the phone to scammers for 20 minutes but with Pfizer not making any progress
06:57he calls for backup okay hold on I'm simply trying for this call my senior okay she explained her
07:04better way okay hold on hold on yeah it was him yeah brilliant yeah this is the boss yeah hello how
07:16are you doing today hey I'm not very well here let me try again she didn't pick up I don't think
07:27she's got a call waiting so I just want your two to three minutes to proceed it further if you would
07:35like to confirm me your further details the scammer continues pressing Rhonda for her bank details
07:42yeah you are absolutely right we do have your old details but right now ma'am I have to cancel your
07:53existing bill from your name of 10 pounds and then I will be able to set a new bill under your name
08:01so make sure absolute lies this lady said she's ill she's got the flu she's waiting to speak to her
08:07doctors and this lot are just relentless keeping her on the phone it's absolutely horrific to witness
08:13the scammers seem to have won Rhonda round we're about to get circled an account number
08:20and what is the account number despite our repeated calls and scam warning text messages we can't get
08:29Rhonda off the call so the team look for a different way to contact her they think they've picked up a
08:36Glaswegian accent there's about eight hits on 192 for an hour McDonald in Glasgow so maybe with a bit
08:42more detail we need some more details we need to keep listening yeah but while we continue the search
08:51the scammer is now asking Rhonda for money okay ma'am and ma'am for all of this procedure there is
08:59just a security hold today which is the amount of 32 pounds it's a one-time hold for today
09:05Rhonda's told the money is a security deposit to be refunded when she receives her free gift
09:14except of course it won't be they're often ear pods that's what they're offering now
09:19the scammer just wants Rhonda's bank card details and ethical hacker Jim knows why
09:26I think they're after as many card details as possible the way this works is they don't have
09:35to reset her account what they can do is just take all of her personal details and just sign
09:41her up directly this is just to create an account the scammer will use the bank card details alongside
09:55the other personal information they have tricked Rhonda into revealing to open an account with a
10:00mobile phone provider they'll then order an expensive phone and leave Rhonda footing the bill
10:08I'm not being cheeky to you I don't mean to be it's just been a long call and I get you know
10:17so stressed what you can do you can use that card in which you just have 32 pounds to hold for a
10:29security and make sure the card number must be registered on flat number she's got what she's
10:37flat number do you want to just have a look through the Glasgow list the flat number allows
10:42us to narrow our Glasgow search as we identify Rhonda's home address but the scammer is moving
10:50quickly the scammer then tells Rhonda to expect a text message from her bank to confirm her 32 pound
11:11payment but we believe it will contain a one-time passcode authorizing the purchase of an expensive
11:18mobile phone I will not be doing any transaction right now within two hours your bank will send you
11:27a text message on your mobile number okay bank will ask for your permission first that we are going to
11:35make the payment if you will allow your bank ma'am then the payment will be hold and the parcel it is
11:41going to be dispatched but rather than receiving her free gift it will be an expensive mobile phone which
11:49she'll be talked into posting onto the scammers scam warning hang up contact your bank immediately
11:55see them back after signing your gift tamper the scammer tells Rhonda she'll get a call back in the
12:02next two hours we believe this is to give the scammers time to open an account and make a purchase using
12:10Rhonda's bank card details but it gives us an opportunity to raise the alarm yes ma'am within two
12:18hours you will receive a call within two hours oh come on let her go we watch for the call to end
12:27thank you sounds like the call is going to end that's going to be my chance to go in speak to Rhonda
12:34you're giving me a lot of time nobody's love nobody best wishes for you such a lovely current
12:39no problem right headsets off headsets off still open though tell me when nick tell me when
12:50there we go right let's go for it cool you jump in she's gonna be expecting them yeah
12:55hello hi is that Rhonda yeah hello Rhonda sorry to call you out the blue like this my name's
13:04rav wilding i'm calling from the bbc scam interceptor program right the person you were just talking to
13:11are our scammers they're not who they claim to be oh my god have you just had a yeah have you just had
13:19a lengthy conversation with someone claiming to be from your mobile phone company yeah hi yeah
13:24Rhonda they're not yes they're claiming to send you something in the post like a free gift i
13:30suspect yeah it's not a free gift they've got all my bank details now they have Rhonda so what they
13:37would have done is is taken your details in order to order some new phones in your name so i need you
13:41to speak to your bank as soon as you get off the phone and tell them what's happened i'm actually in
13:47my bed sick you know oh you poor thing how silly was i you're not you're not silly at all Rhonda so you
13:54speak to your bank first then speak to the three network tell them what's happened and i really
13:59hope you feel better soon Rhonda okay thank you so much no problem all right then Rhonda you take
14:05care all right speak to you soon thank you take care bye bye oh my goodness what a lovely lady she had
14:15no idea that she was being scammed genuinely she's ill and they kept her on longer and longer and
14:22longer she tried to get off the phone 40 minutes by the time we got she's exhausted she's absolutely
14:27exhausted i've offered her support she's okay at the moment she wants to speak to her bank first i
14:31think that's the priority because she has given all the details across to them and we don't know what
14:37they could do with that later that day we got back in touch with Rhonda she'd spoken to her bank
14:44which confirmed that no purchases had been made using her card if you think you've been scammed then
14:51there are some steps you need to take straight away firstly call your bank the number is usually on the
14:59back of your bank card remove any software that scammers have asked you to install on your phone
15:05or laptop change your passwords on as many online accounts as you can report the crime to action
15:12fraud go to actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040 if you're in scotland report the crime to the
15:21police on 101 and if you've had a scam text forward that to 7726 that spells
15:28spam on your phone's keypad the more that you report the more that can be done to stop them
15:38the call center that targeted rhonda goes by the name tech harbor solutions
15:44their scam centers around ordering expensive mobile phones in their target's name
15:52when the target receives these items in the post the scammer tells them there's been a mistake
15:58and to return it for a refund but rather than sending it to a company's warehouse it will be sent
16:05to an address under the scammer's control and it's these addresses we want to know more about
16:14this is what we're going to do today you're going to actually make a call and you're going to say that
16:20you've just had phones delivered that you know nothing about that wasn't what you thought was going to
16:24happen and what do you need to do then according to the scammers yeah and what we want from them
16:30is a crucial bit of information as the address as to where the phones go is something we don't
16:36currently have and that's crucial isn't it it is yeah so what what we call mules are basically networks
16:43of people within the uk who are in the pay of the scammers and who are essential to the way that their
16:48business works these mules will basically be getting a cut of whatever profits the scammers make in
16:53return for their services armed with a fake identity and a plausible backstory nick makes the call
17:07hello oh hello um i'm a bit confused i've had a phone delivered this morning
17:14um okay can i have your name sir yeah sure it's nick smith i wasn't expecting a a phone i was expecting
17:23a like a new sim card i'm just checking the details for you still online okay so what i can do for you
17:30sir i can provide you a pre-paid qr code a bar code in your email or in your whatsapp number so you can
17:38visit any of the nearest roma post office and drop off the wrong parcel over there okay brilliant thank you
17:44so much so she said she's going to send you a qr code with a prepaid label but i think you did it
17:57i hope so i mean i think they've been very clever in that rather than just sending people addresses
18:02they're sending these qr codes because obviously that makes it seem much more official for starters
18:07but also it means that when people actually receive the address that they're meant to send their returned
18:12phone to they're not going to see that it's just a residential address the qr code should contain
18:18the mule address but scanning the code only leads to more confusion oh hang on this is weird there's
18:26loads of there's loads of address oh really so there's another person on here there's two different
18:32addresses but interceptor harleen has a solution so harleen we've got a plan in place aren't we so
18:39you're going to actually go to the post office and ask them to scan the code but not post anything
18:45at this stage exactly i think if you scan the code if they're willing to do that we can at least
18:50find out where it's going to go let's do it thanks harleen
18:58producer mark and harleen head to the post office that's the destination oh it's sunderland
19:05fantastic fantastic we have got the address
19:15getting a suspected mule address is a major breakthrough
19:19it could give us clues as to who is working with the scammers in pakistan
19:25a few days later we post a dummy package that looks like a mobile phone but instead is full of
19:32worthless paper to the address harleen obtained
19:39the next day our grounded scepter team nathan and lauren arrive at the location to surveil the property
19:45and to see who receives our package and it's not long before the postie arrives
19:51oh yep yep yep yep yep that's it so it's being posted now
19:59up with someone it looks to be a man
20:05but can't get much more from here because we're quite far away
20:07we have accepted the package right the post is just left delivered delivered
20:21so we have absolute confirmation that the package that's just been delivered is the package that the
20:25hub have sent them the stakeout has confirmed that this property is receiving goods obtained fraudulently
20:33by scammers from the scam call center tech harbor solutions time for nick to ask the residents at
20:42the address some questions hello there nick stapleton bbc scam interceptors i just want to understand why
20:50you're getting phones delivered to this address for scammers yeah i think you are we sent one a package
20:56earlier today you received packages to this address that are being sent on to scammers in lahore in pakistan
21:03i don't know why are you doing that i'm not doing you're not doing that no someone else who lives here does that
21:11he went to london yeah yeah the man tells us that his housemate who moved in a few weeks ago
21:17took the package with him to london shortly after it arrived these phones that are coming here
21:23they're stolen they're from people who have been defrauded so this guy who lives with you he's
21:28helping criminals oh he's making money by stealing from people no really i don't know yeah
21:35i will ask him when he come back i'd really like to talk to him yeah when he come tomorrow then uh
21:41you will talk with him yeah okay and when you come tomorrow then uh there's a number on there so
21:45he can contact us all right all right thank you very much get him to call me all right thank you
21:49all right okay thank you thank you thank you have a good evening see you
21:55we never heard back from the flatmate but we're determined to take further action against the tech
22:02harbor solutions scammers but we don't just want to disrupt their operation in the uk
22:08we want to find out where exactly in lahore the call center is based information we intend to pass on
22:16to authorities over the next few weeks we continue to monitor the call center and the team eventually
22:27get a breakthrough alice how are you getting on just trying to find out where this operation is
22:32actually based um so i found out a couple of things um we had access to some external cctv yeah
22:39um so i took a still of that and we could just sign across the road we could only see half of the sign
22:45okay so from that what have you managed to find out um so i managed to find uh an educational college
22:51which has the same font this is great so this is the building that's right next to where that image
22:58was taken we think so it matches the general area that we thought they were in we now know with
23:05certainty exactly where these scammers are information we can pass on to the authorities in lahore
23:12with our time in the hub coming to an end and our investigation into the call center complete
23:19we want to confront the scammers and call them out on their criminal behavior now we want to speak
23:25to these people now that we've gathered all our evidence and literally put to them what we know
23:29about this criminal operation and one of the things we can do is merging the calls how does it work
23:34so it essentially means we can start a conference call with a scammer and one of their targets so
23:39you will be joining a live call that a scammer is having with somebody in the uk while they're trying
23:44to get all this information out of them so that they can steal phones from them so literally in real
23:48time i can speak to the scammer and tell both of them and the potential target they're speaking to
23:52that they are criminals trying to steal from them that's it yeah can't wait this is our only chance as
23:59soon as i speak the scammers will almost certainly wipe their computers meaning we'll no longer be
24:05able to listen to their calls it's imperative that we tell the scammers that we know exactly what they're
24:11up to and that we'll be reporting their criminal activity and we're not working alone we've drafted
24:18in the help of jim and a scam baiter based in the us who will work with us to take down the american
24:25part of this global operation what we are going to do today is almost a global pincer attack on
24:34this operation that's it one of jim's contacts he will be having conversations with the us side of
24:39this operation while we start having conversations with those who target the uk so we're going to make
24:44sure we all do this at exactly the right time and then we're going to strike and hopefully take them
24:48down it's about time we monitor the cctv closely as our pincer plan takes effect oh look they're all
24:58gathered rounds so someone's got something going on something going on over here the american scambator
25:04strikes first calling one of the scammers and telling them that we've all been monitoring their
25:10criminal behavior as the scammers realize that their every move is being watched realization sets in
25:22many of the agents begin to abandon their stations and it's obvious that the scammers aren't too pleased
25:30with us they hold an emergency meeting at the manager's desk and eventually they disconnect their
25:41cameras that camera's frozen all the cameras are shut down while the u.s operation has taken down the cctv
25:51remarkably there are still some scammers targeting the uk we've still got the ability with our special
25:57bit of kit yes submerge into their calls so we can still disrupt their activity let's have a chat with
26:02some of them shall we yeah let's do it hi is that mohammed arsel
26:19is that mohammed arsel there straight off okay let's try and get another one quickly
26:27siraj is that siraj siraj this is rav wilding from the scam interceptors program siraj why are you
26:36scamming people yeah why are you trying to steal from people siraj yeah i'm not scanning yes you are
26:45siraj why are you pretending you're from a mobile phone company why are you doing it
26:48all right all right why are you doing it siraj do you know it's a crime
26:58yeah what is my name siraj why are you doing it no no no my name is moral siraj what's your name then
27:08is it nazish what's my name is it tamor no is it habil what i know who you work with i'm your father
27:18what's your name then the tech harbor solutions scammers have gotten a real fright and a few moments
27:26later server's down
27:29pulled it it's the whole thing's gone i think so they pulled the plug on the entire operation
27:41well there was definitely a lot of chat i could hear in the background they were repeating some
27:45of what was said wasn't there there's clearly some some panic it sounded like and right now there's no
27:51calls being made no whatsoever no they've completely signed off the server they are a dead call center and
27:57when we started this that that was incredibly busy we saw the amount of calls that were going on huge
28:01volume of people working for them always and you know usually 20 25 calls at one time they won't
28:05be able to follow through with their scams right now no way so that is a result since filming we have
28:12reported all our findings about the criminal activity taking place at tech harbor solutions including
28:19their identities and location to the authorities in pakistan
28:31so
28:49you
28:51you
28:57you
28:59you
29:01you
29:05you
29:07you
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