Call Center Crime

Haven't we all heard of things like these in our work environment? From petty theft to credit card fraud. Personally, I've witnessed some very serious ones in my lifetime. Like the one incident of credit card fraud by one of the agents in my account in one of the call centers I worked for.

Being in a sales account, we were all exposed in vital credit card information of customers. This one agent had the guts to funnel funds from several customers' cards to his own Paypal account. His biggest mistake was he did the crime on his own workstation using his own computer name and password. The result? One week after funneling over $1000 dollars to his account, NBI agents and Police SWAT stormed our account floor to "pick-up" this dumb fraudster in the middle of of his call. The stupid part about the whole thing is: when he was asked why he funneled funds, he replied that he wanted to get into the call center business because he wanted to learn the ropes of outsourcing because he wanted to put up a call center of his own! Least to say, this hombre might be lacking a few bolts in his coconut in the first place. The guy faced credit card fraud charges files against him by U.S. authorities. We never heard from him again.

Of course I've worked with people who admitted collecting credit card numbers and information and used it for variety of reasons. From buying items in Amazon to sending funds to a SMART money card. But that was years ago when I was still an agent and credit card security was not that elaborate.

But I can name 2 incidents that takes the cake in call center crime. Not surprisingly, both are from other countries.

If you work for HSBC recently, you would know why the HSBC call center suddenly got stricter with their employees and requirements. To be able to a bonafide HSBC employee, you would have to present everything from your birth certificate, certified grade school records up to your last certificate of employment. The same thing is required from other HSBC employees in other countries. This was after an HSBC employee from India transferred millions of British Pounds from HSBC customers to his own bank account. The Indian was apprehended and charged. After that HSBC thoroughly screens present and prospective employees through a third party First Advantage.

The best and funniest incident of call center crime was the most recent one I've heard! A guy working in a call center in the U.K. was running a drug dealership and money laundering business from his call center desk in Sheffield. This was not small scale and petty drug dealing. This guy Shoukat Ali Yaqoob was making phones calls in relation to supplying 50 kilograms of pure heroin to at least a couple of towns Yorkshire and Glouchester. This story was featured in BBC. Although the guy was not caught red-handed doing the bad deed while working on his desk. It was kinda funny how other people would use such a mundane type of work for a more lucrative yet dangerous line of work. No guts, no glory right? LOL

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Posted in: CallCenter Issues