Britons Lose £10m In Indian Call Centre Scam

Thousands of Britons have fallen victim to a multimillion-pound Indian call centre and internet fraud.

The Daily Mail has reported that up to 60,000 people were deceived by the scam, making the fraud one of the biggest ever carried out in the UK from abroad.

At its height, more than 1,000 people a day seeking unsecured loans with banks and finance companies were being contacted by call centres in New Delhi, with 100 of them being conned daily into signing up and paying a "processing fee" to get non-existent cash.

A spokesman for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the UK's national police agency, confirmed the fraud.

"We shared intelligence with the Indian authorities, which led to them investigating and making arrests," the spokesman said.

Indian police believe at least £10m was cheated out of Britons seeking loans.

Most have lost sums between £90 and £250, although one man is said to have lost more than £200,000.

Three Indian men have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy to commit fraud using electronic equipment, while others remain at large in both the UK and India.

Details which the fraudsters obtained include the fact that an individual was seeking a loan, the amount required, his or her telephone number, email address, date of birth and home address.