Sat hunched over a laptop in a dark and dingy bedroom, 29-year-old Abhishek Singh is hard at work.
Abhishek spends his days making calls to warn British shoppers that their accounts are in danger and that their money could be at risk. He is part of the Amazon customer service team and is desperately trying to stop scammers from fleecing customers.
Or at least that’s what he would have you believe.
The twisted truth is that Abhishek is no anti-fraud hero and he doesn’t work for Amazon – he is in fact himself an unscrupulous scammer, operating from his home in suburban Kolkata, India.
But what Abhishek doesn’t realise as he makes these phone calls is that his every move is being tracked by a team of scam experts in the UK who have remote access to his computer and webcam.
An ethical hacker in the BBC’s fraud-busting Scam Interceptors team has been secretly monitoring – and recording – Abhishek’s operations for a few weeks, to feature in the latest series’ sixth episode: Wham, Bam, A Scammer Caught On Webcam.
The findings expose the intricate inner workings of the ruthless scam network that is blitzing British homes – and provide an extraordinary glimpse into the scammer’s personal life.
Abhishek Singh, 29, is a scammer, operating from his home in suburban Kolkata, India. He pretends to work as part of the Amazon customer service team
Friendly ‘Amazon’ worker
Abhishek is using a trick that Money Mail has been warning readers about for four years – the so-called ‘gift card con’.
The way this increasingly common scam works can vary, but it always involves a trickster stealing money from gift cards that have been purchased by a victim. The number of cases has climbed by 25 pc in just two years and more than £18.5million was lost, says Report Fraud, which tracks scams.
In Abhishek’s case, he starts by consulting a long list of potential victims which he has likely bought from a ‘data broker’, according to Nick Stapleton, who presents the show. This is a legitimate company that collects and sells personal information obtained from public records, social media and commercial sources.
Stapleton explains: ‘Unfortunately all our data is so widely available now. Every set of terms and conditions we don’t read when we download a new app or sign up for a new account might say “we sell your data to third parties”.
‘Some scammers now also use things called phone number generators. These make up 10,000 numbers at a time and then test them to see if they’re in use. They are a one-off expense but you get free data potentially for ever afterwards.’
Abhishek knows an alarming amount about each person he calls – including their name, home address and phone number.
In one call recorded by the BBC, Abhishek contacts a man named Peter. When Peter answers, Abhishek introduces himself as an agent in Amazon’s customer service team and says in a friendly tone: ‘Some overseas people have been using your Amazon account’. He then explains that scammers have placed orders using Peter’s Amazon account and he could be charged. But he quickly reassures Peter, saying: ‘Right now, sir, I will simply try to stop the order’.
He tells Peter that he will send him a one-time passcode via text to confirm that he really is from Amazon.
But, in reality, Abhishek does not need to work for Amazon to send this code to Peter. All he needs to do is go on to Amazon’s website and enter his victim’s mobile phone number, then click on the ‘forgotten password’ button. This immediately sends a passcode to the phone number. However, these passcodes are not supposed to be read out to anyone – even those claiming to work for Amazon – as they give unbridled access to the Amazon account.
With this, Abhishek can log in and carry out the next part of his scam.
Stapleton explains: ‘Once he’s in their account, he starts adding expensive items to their basket and says to them, “Go on your Amazon account, there’s someone trying to steal your money”.’
Victims who log into their account will see these items in their basket, causing them to panic.
In Peter’s case, Abhishek quickly adds £3,211 worth of iPhones to the basket.
Nick Stapleton and Harleen Nottay are presenters of the BBC’s Scam Interceptors. The team called Abhishek to confront him about his scamming
This is designed to make Peter think that scammers have purchased items using Peter’s card. But Peter smells a rat, so cleverly hangs up the phone before Abhishek can take the scam further.
If he hadn’t hung up, Abhishek would have told him that he can be refunded for fraudulent transactions made on his account but that Amazon can only make these refunds via gift cards, says Stapleton.
The scammer would then tell Peter to buy gift cards, while assuring him that he is actually receiving the value rather than spending money.
Even though the vicitms are buying the gift cards, they would be cruelly tricked into thinking they are receiving them. Once the victims have purchased the gift cards, Abhishek can gain access to the codes associated with each card. He can then sell the codes on the dark web or use them to purchase items for himself.
Rumbled in the act
The failed attempt is no matter for Abhishek, however, who unfazed by Peter hanging up the call.
The scammer has more victims ready to be targeted, and Abhishek quickly moves on to the next innocent Briton.
While Abhishek calls victims, ethical hacker Dan G works behind the scenes to scour Abhishek’s computer for information about the ruthless fraudster.
Ethical hackers have the same skills needed to break into computer networks as malicious hackers. The difference, however, is that they are employed by companies to find flaws in their security systems before the holes are exploited by criminals.
In this case, Dan has gained access to the scammer’s computer to expose his cruel tactics.
Abhishek keeps reams of his own personal information on his device. This is highly unusual for scammers, who typically keep this data on a computer that is different from the one through which they conduct their scams.
In photos taken directly from his computer’s camera reel, we can see Abhishek posing smugly for the camera.
Abhishek is so careless that he has even left his CV on the computer, which reveals vital personal information such as his phone number, email address, date of birth and even his home address in Kolkata.
The livestream that Scam Interceptors have of Abhishek’s computer screen shows he relaxes in between scamming British households by watching a music video.
But his respite is about to be interrupted by Stapleton, who will use the phone number from the CV to call him.
The BBC presenter also has access to the webcam on Abhishek’s computer so he can see into his home and uncover how he operates.
Stapleton has been careful not to check the footage too much, as this can turn on a small light on Abhishek’s computer, which could alert him to the fact that someone is watching his operations.
As he dials the number, Stapleton switches the camera on to reveal a confused Abhishek marvelling at the incoming phone call from the Scam Interceptors team.
Spooked, Abhishek calls an associate using a different phone and asks if they know anything about the phone number that is calling him.
He declines several calls from the BBC team.
The BBC’s Nick Stapleton has access to the webcam on Abhishek’s computer so he can see into his home and uncover how the scammer (pictured) operates. He sits hunched over a laptop in a dark and dingy bedroom
Read More
EXCLUSIVE Risk of AI scams is putting Gen Z off online dating, bank claims
But moments later, the presenters receive a WhatsApp call from an account that has changed its username to read ‘AMAZON’.
Harleen Nottay, a presenter on the show, answers and asks if the man on the other end of the phone is Abhishek. He replies: ‘Yeah, who are you?’
Nottay says: ‘We know that you’re an Amazon scammer. Why do you think that’s acceptable Abhishek? Do you think it’s acceptable to steal people’s money in the UK?’
He replies: ‘That information is totally fake. I’m not doing anything like that.’
Mid-conversation, the caller changes his mind and claims he is actually called ‘Cecil’, and he is a friend of Abhishek’s.
He says: ‘I know that person [Abhishek] from my childhood. You’re harassing an innocent person. He is studying and not working.
‘Somebody else have just simply doing within [sic] his behalf.’
After the show aired earlier this month, Stapleton told Money Mail it is unlikely Abhishek will have stopped his deceitful antics based on intervention by the BBC.
Scam Interceptors has passed on evidence to the authorities in Kolkata.
Eight episodes of the new series of Scam Interceptors are available on BBC iPlayer. The latest episodes air on BBC One at 2pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
