Indian call centres making a bit on the side.

August 14, 2005 6:46 PM

That would explain the $3000 dollar curry on my mastercard statement. Some Indian call centres are making a bit the side. Seems a fairly obvious scenario in retrospect.
posted by strawberryviagra (20 comments total)

a bit on the side, that is.
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:48 PM on August 14, 2005

"$3000 dollar" => "$3000", that is.
posted by e40 at 7:12 PM on August 14, 2005

But $3000 could also => Three Thousand Dollars.
posted by Balisong at 7:30 PM on August 14, 2005

Bastards!
posted by strawberryviagra at 7:39 PM on August 14, 2005

That's what happens when you post on MeFi, Donchano.
posted by Balisong at 7:56 PM on August 14, 2005

This is a very good example of the risks companies put their customers at when they outsource in the current security/privacy/leagal environment.

If some jerk steals my information in the US, he goes to jail for 9 years. An industry of foreign information sale blossoms in India, and they're only deciding now that they need tighter laws.
posted by VulcanMike at 8:10 PM on August 14, 2005

Leagal?
posted by VulcanMike at 8:10 PM on August 14, 2005

Beagle?
posted by loquacious at 10:19 PM on August 14, 2005

Smeagol?
posted by uncanny hengeman at 10:51 PM on August 14, 2005

This is precisely why Tom Delay should never have told a cell center that his social security number is 449-78-1174.
posted by mosch at 12:17 AM on August 15, 2005

When I called Dell for the support that came with the machine and the person who answered could not understand English, I let the "insurance" expire without renewal. I have never regretted it. Now I am glad.
posted by Cranberry at 1:20 AM on August 15, 2005

Cranberry: then again, there are those who'd say that given the sheer size of the English-speaking population, and the time for which English has been spoken in India, it is *they* who were speaking "mainstream" English, and you who were speaking a certain local dialect.

But heck, you're the guy speaking with your wallet.
posted by the cydonian at 4:26 AM on August 15, 2005

it is *they* who were speaking "mainstream" English, and you who were speaking a certain local dialect.

How amazingly specious.
posted by grouse at 5:44 AM on August 15, 2005

VulcanMike is the only person who has posted something of value in this thread. There is nothing inherent in the system of outsourcing work that naturally lends itself to identity theft. Sneaky people could do the same thing here. This post belongs on Slashdot with all the other articles crying over outsourcing.

I am certain the Indian government will step up its laws on the matter so they more closely match those in the US.
posted by chunking express at 6:03 AM on August 15, 2005

Cyber crime is described by former World Bank cyber intelligence expert Tom Kellerman as the most pervasive crime on the planet.

I'm going to disagree with that and suggest petty theft, myself. Why are so many "experts" such unbelievable dumbasses?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:25 AM on August 15, 2005

See also

</derail>
posted by heydanno at 12:07 PM on August 15, 2005

... the free flow of data was just astonishing," the journalist said [quoted himself as saying]. "A good analogy [completely irrelevant bogeyman] would be paedophile or child porn sites on the Internet.

Is ABC a tabloid down under? Or is this what passes for real reporting these days?
posted by ook at 12:20 PM on August 15, 2005

In Tom Friedman's India, mainstream English speaks you!
posted by aaronetc at 12:58 PM on August 15, 2005

OC: Maybe he's counting illegal downloads as "cyber crime"?
posted by aaronetc at 12:59 PM on August 15, 2005

The report, which aired last night, piggybacked an investigative report previously undertaken by the London Sun (a shitty tabloid. NSFW or anything else), and tried to put an Australian spin on it – which was incredibly dissappointing considering the usual level of journalism coming out of Four Corners.

It did highlight the lackadaisical way information (ie data bases packed with delicate personal information) is being handled and the reality that there is very little an individual can do to protect their personal information once they have signed up for say, a credit card, or an internet account – albeit presented in a sensational and hysterical manner. The “cyber crime” component was the trade of said info.

Outsourcing is part of the issue, but not the crux of the problem - it is fairly obvious that given access to this type of commodity, low paid workers may feel the inclination to take advantage of it (mefi caveat: and that could occur anywhere).

So, Chunking Express - you're right: grind your outsourcing axe on Slashdot – the same thing would happen anywhere, because there has been zero consideration as to how to secure this type of information in the scramble for companies to save money and/or make more of it.
posted by strawberryviagra at 4:44 PM on August 15, 2005