How scammers in Kolkata call center got help from Lucerne

A 45-year-old man has been sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence by the Lucerne Criminal Court for processing payments for a fraudulent call center in Calcutta, Switzerland.

The court found the man guilty of fraud, money laundering, fraudulent trademark use and unfair competition. He was involved in the machinations of a gang that allegedly used Microsoft support calls to trick unsuspecting PC users.

How did the perpetrators deal with it?

The Swiss from India founded a sole proprietorship in 2012 in the canton of Lucerne. He used this to process loyalty card payments for his brother’s call center in Calcutta. He also made several e-mail addresses available to the call center.

However, this call center was not a reputable company. According to the prosecutor’s office, employees of the public prosecutor’s office have often contacted computer users in the US, Canada and Great Britain and offered them help with fake IT problems.

The purpose of these alleged support calls was to exploit computer users’ inexperience and sell them unnecessary or non-existent products, such as antivirus programs. They repeatedly posed as Microsoft employees.

The call center also made false statements on its website about Microsoft’s support services. This was intended to trick victims into signing a service contract.

How many victims have been scammed?

The crime period ran from 2012 to 2019. The prosecutor’s office estimated the amount of the crime at almost 37,000 francs. Due to the high number of criminal offenses – the indictment speaks of 230 – the fraud has been classified as commercial. The suspect made an important contribution to the crime as an accomplice, according to the public prosecutor.

The verdict published on Tuesday is final. The suspect had admitted the accusations and accepted the criminal complaint from the public prosecutor’s office, so that the proceedings could be shortened.

(dsc/sda)