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Nasscom runs for cover as Americans get scared of identity theft and online money scams by Indian employees in outsourcing companies
What happened in Citi Bank has caused panic among some Americans calling 800 numbers and reaching someone in India who is asking for bank accounts, credit card numbers and drivers license numbers. Nasscom the aggressive Indian industry association busy promoting Indian software and call center outsourcing services is running for cover.
Last week, three employees of a call centre in the south Indian city of Pune were arrested and nine others questioned after allegedly stealing more than $350,000 from Citibank account holders in New York.
The employees worked for Mphasis, a Bangalore-based outsourcing company, which serves Citibank. According to Sanjay Jadhav, assistant police commissioner in Pune, Citibank officials asked him to investigate a suspected “racket” operating from the call centre.
Mr Jadhav alleged three Mphasis employees had gained access to customer PINs and bank accounts through “social engineering” or identity theft. The employees then set up fake bank accounts and transferred that money to local Indian bank accounts.
This is not an isolated case. Lack of security control, uncontrolled growth in business process outsourcing and ignorance of Indian Government in this matter has caused the security breach.
Nasscom, India’s software industry lobby plans to launch a national employee-screening program in an attempt to curb online crime following a recent alleged theft of money from US customers of Citibank. But the experts say, they can only do that on theory. The industry is uncontrolled and the Government’s ignorance has made innumerable Americans’ identity and money vulnerable to some Indian unethical Indian employees of the outsourcing companies. Nasscom’s effort will be hardly followed by the industry in general.
What is really needed is the intervention by the Government of India in this matter. Nasscom can advise the Government but some one has to take control of the most widely spreading white collar crime – identity thefts and online money scams.
It is also a shame for American companies to go to India for saving a few bucks and using outsourcing services without any regard to quality and most importantly identity security of its American clientele.
OUTSOURCING ARTICLES
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