Further Reading 20 arrested, 61 charged in India-based IRS phone scam case

According to a Tuesday report in The New York Times, the bust seemingly was aided by the efforts of two teenage employees from one of the companies. The pair blew the whistle on their former employer, the Phoenix 007 call center that's based outside of Mumbai. The workers reached Betsy Broder of the FTC after being shuffled from the Internal Revenue Service's main switchboard.

Indian and American authorities believe that this call center, along with several others, was part of a massive ring to call Americans in the United States and trick them into ponying up thousands of dollars in fraudulent fees. This criminal operation is believed to have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Further Reading Cops arrest hundreds of people allegedly involved in IRS phone scam call center was raided by Indian authorities. (The Times also reported the men’s claim that they helped with the takedown is “unfounded, according to Indian and American investigators, who said that the raid in Thane was carried out entirely by the local police without assistance from American officials. The Thane police said their informant was not employed by the swindlers.”)

Weeks later in October 2016, federal authorities in Texas unsealed criminal charges against dozens of people who are accused of being part of a massive criminal enterprise based around theft, wire fraud, and impersonating government officials. Of those suspects, 20 were arrested in the US, where their criminal cases are ongoing in federal court in Houston.

Two of the named US-based suspects, Jerry Norris, of Oakland, California, and Jagdishkumar Chaudhari, of Sarasota, Florida, remain at large.

Erica Lacy, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, told Ars on Wednesday that there is currently no award for their arrest, “but information about their whereabouts is welcomed and can be provided by contacting the local ICE office or calling the ICE toll free hotline (1-866-DHS-2-ICE).”