Global Fraud Empire
In a dimly lit flat in New Delhi, 27-year-old Sandeep Khatri entered cautiously, cap pulled low to conceal his face. It took days of negotiation for him to agree to this meeting, on the condition of anonymity. He had once been a struggling college dropout from Gurugram, moving from one unstable, low-paying job to another. But everything changed when he witnessed a friend posing as a tech support agent scam a man out of $80 in just five minutes. “That was more than I had made in two months,” he said. Khatri was hooked.
Within weeks, Khatri was impersonating technicians from Amazon, Microsoft, or even the US Internal Revenue Service. He quickly learned the scripts, tones, and tactics needed to instill panic in victims thousands of miles away. His office? A rented flat with makeshift partitions and rotating scam teams that change location every few months to evade detection.
Khatri’s story is not unique. Thousands of young Indians, especially from areas plagued by job scarcity, are quietly powering a sophisticated cyber scam industry. From tech-savvy dropouts to rural youth, a sprawling underground economy is taking shape — one that Western governments and global law enforcement agencies are struggling to contain.
The US, UK, and Canada are frequent targets. Scammers impersonate officials from agencies like the IRS, DEA, or USCIS, manipulating victims through fear tactics and fake refund scams. Payments are extracted through cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfers, then laundered through digital wallets and mule accounts.
In regions like Mewat, Haryana — now dubbed the cyber scam capital of India — entire villages have embraced online fraud as a primary source of income. Sultan Kareem, a local “intermediary,” manages a team of five to six men. “One of them made 300,000 rupees from just one victim,” he claimed. “Some have made up to 5 million rupees in a year.” The scale is staggering — operations range from smartphone-driven solo setups to larger call-centre-like hubs employing dozens.
A 2024 report by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs revealed that cybercriminals stole over $2.6 billion in that year alone. Cyber expert Prabesh Choudhary notes that this underground industry now mimics formal sectors — with HR departments, training modules, and roles from recruiters to payment handlers.
Many of these scammers, like Raju, stumbled into the racket unknowingly. After completing vocational training, he joined what appeared to be a normal call centre job. It wasn’t until his second week that he realised he was defrauding people. But by then, the money had started rolling in. Now, he oversees backend operations and fund transfers.
Meanwhile, in Kashmir, Waseem Mir is on the run. After police cracked down on cyber gangs operating in Srinagar, over 7,000 scam-linked bank accounts were uncovered. Mir, like many others, views his actions through a socio-economic lens. “The victims are rich. We are not. It feels like reverse colonialism,” he said.
India’s youth unemployment crisis is fuelling this underground economy. A joint ILO-IHD report showed that 83% of India’s unemployed are between 15 and 29 years old. Without jobs, many see cyber fraud not just as survival, but as a path to prosperity.
Legal experts like Pavan Duggal warn that India’s current laws are inadequate. With most cybercrimes bailable and the conviction rate below 1%, scammers operate with near impunity. Despite passing the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in 2023, the government has yet to implement key provisions.
The result: an unregulated, fast-growing cyber economy operating in the shadows. For many involved, it’s no longer just crime — it’s business.
“We do pitch meetings. We close sales,” Kareem said. “Our product is fake. But the hustle is real.”
