Sameeksha Dubey
An order has been passed by the US Court for the permanent shutdown of a technical support fraud scheme having an American citizen as its mastermind which was operated through call centered in India which allegedly defrauded hundreds of elderly and vulnerable Americans.
The complaint was filed against Cotter by the civil division’s consumer protection branch and US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida which alleged that he worked from 2011 to 2020 with the co-conspirators in India to operate a technical-support fraud scheme.
The consumers of US were contacted by internet pop-up messages which was falsely showed to be security alerts from Microsoft.
The department of US Justice said on 29 December 2020 that the district court has entered into a permanent injunction against Michael Brian Cotter of Glendale, California and four companies viz., Singapore registered Global Digital Concierge, Nevada registered companies Sensei Ventures Incorporated and NE labs Inc, and New York registered Kevisoft from selling software via telemarketing.
The acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for Civil Division said, “The department is committed to protecting vulnerable Americans, particularly America’s seniors from those who seek to steal their hard earned savings.”
Clark thanked CBI of India and Legal Attache’s in Delhi by saying that “the department is grateful for the cooperation of foreign law enforcement including India’s CBI in investigating, disrupting and prosecuting technical-support fraud schemes and other schemes originating abroad and directed at the American public.”
The Department of Justice said that the victims were connected to the India based call-centres while calling on the toll-free numbers.
The CBI, in coordination with the US Department of Justice, raided several locations in six cities where the call centres were operating on October 16, 2020.
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