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What kinds of people are running these scams? Are they just normal Indians that think they are playing "Robin Hood" with the rich Americans? I would like to see "a day in the life of an Indian scammer"... are these scammers poor and/or desperate? Are they desensitized psychopaths? Are they mainly teenagers who think it is a game? Are they adults who are fully aware of how criminal their acts are?

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There's a great episode of the podcast "Reply All" which digs into some of these questions: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh3wk/

They are most likely young adults who while probably know they are doing something wrong don’t know the significant impact on the people they end up causing.

Yes, very likely poor, desperate and also under duress by their “managers” to meet their quotas. It doesn’t absolve them of their sins though. The system might even be gamified for these callers and they lose sense of their own morality at some point if they have any.

This scam has been going for so long yet the authorities don’t seem to be doing enough either in US or here in India. I wish someone powerful enough takes this scam head-on and uproot the whole system. It really preys upon one of the most vulnerable members of our society and we should collectively do something about it.

/rant

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