It seems that Americans might not be the only ones to be at the receiving end of the thriving business of credit card fraud emanating from India. After the Maharashtra Police unearthed a massive credit card fraud scam by raiding Thane-based call centres and arresting scores of individuals accused of duping close to 6,000 Americans, Canadian authorities have raised alarm about 'suspicious phone callers with Indian accent.'

According to the probe agency, scores of Canadian residents have complained to the authorities in their country about marketers and callers asking them about their personal information. The complainants have also stated that most of the callers have an 'Indian accent' and tend to be pushy while asking personal information which mostly is about credit card details.

The revelation was made by some senior officials of the CBI who said that the issue was brought up during a recently held meeting with the Commissioner of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Bob Paulson.

"Several issues were discussed during the meeting and most of them focused on greater co-operation between Canadian and Indian investigating bodies. Some of the points discussed during the meeting were related to inquiries and judicial requests made by our agency in connection to criminal cases probed by CBI. While our Canadian counterpart assured better cooperation from their end, there were some issues raised by them in which they would be needing our assistance. One of them is of credit card fraud and the matter seems to be serious and urgent in nature,"a senior CBI official told DNA.

"According to the RMCP in the last few months there have been multiple complaints from Canadian citizens claiming that they have been receiving calls from people with an Indian accent. The numbers from which they have been receiving these calls seem to be originating from two-three countries and we intend to work with out Canadian counterparts to probe this matter further," the officer said.

According to CBI officials, as seen in the past, syndicates operating a credit card scam system, are generally not based out of any one particular country. Similarly the numbers from which these fraud calls are made can be concealed using commonly available technology or through sim cards acquired illegally by syndicate members.

Mumbai case

Thane based call centres, which had more than 2,000 employees, have come under police investigation for allegedly duping Americans by pretending to be Internal Revenue Service officials and threatening them with tax investigations if they did not pay up. The police has also issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) to nab Sagar Dharmesh Thakkar, the alleged mastermind of the scam which is believed to have procured almost rupees 500 crore from American citizens