US Busts Massive Network of Indian Phone Scammers in $73Mln Fraud Case

Dozens of phone scammers from India have been sentenced to jail terms of up to 20 years for defrauding US residents of hundreds of millions of dollars, the US Department of Justice has said.

"The stiff sentences imposed this week represent the culmination of the first-ever large scale, multi-jurisdiction prosecution targeting the India call center scam industry," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday.

According to the press release, fraudsters impersonated employees from the IRS tax collection agency and the immigration service to dupe US victims into believing they owed US government money.

The victims were threatened by arrest or deportation to transfer money to the callers, who ran a money laundering network in the United States.

A total of 24 people have been sentenced over this call center scheme, 21 this week and another three earlier this year. Twenty-two were held liable for restitution of almost $9 million to the victims. The assets seized in the case totaled nearly $73 million, according to DoJ.