Team Viewer is a very effective tool of the remotely sharing the desktop of the user. This tool can however be a great breakthrough for the fraudsters if it is used effectively.

Fraud with the aid of Team Viewer

Sarang Shekhar, Firdaus Haq, Toton Haq & Prosenjit Manna — opened four BPO companies. All the companies were incorporated in Salt Lake in 2011. Manna was director of a company named Aconsoft E Serve India Limited. The group began offering cheap debugging solutions and branched out to installing online software solutions. They also provided services like entering annual maintenance contracts, installing simple anti-virus programmes for clients in foreign shores.

Clients agreed to pay monthly or weekly payments to this quartlet. They requested clients to transfer the money online. These contracts were offered at very cheap rates. Once the client agreed to the terms, the accused would skillfully install the Team Viewer. The software on the client’s computer would be installed without his knowledge. It gave them access to the clients’ desktops. Access allowed them to control the clients’ computers remotely.

Manna would mail a lengthy form to client asking him to fill it before completing the online payments. As the client was busy filling up details in form, Manna’s people were able to see the exact amount being entered for payment. Once the amount was known they would add a zero to the original amount. $9 turned into $90 before clicking the transaction button. Clients barely realized that they had been duped. For this to happen, it is crucial that the accused know precisely when the client filled up the online form. Team viewer meetings were arranged to extend support to the clients in form filling.

Involvement of the Money Mules

BPO employees duped their clients in many countries. In every country they appointed an agent. Agents had access to several bank accounts operated from their respective countries. The amount that was amassed fraudulently would be transferred to such accounts and the agents would withdraw the money within 30 minutes of it being deposited. The agent kept 40% and sent the rest through hawala channels of Mumbai and Kolkata and Hundi channels of Bangladesh. This gang also cheated companies in UK, Chinese Taipei, Nigeria, Nicaragua and Bangladesh.