Former BPO Worker Exposes Scam Pipeline

Tonight, we’re taking you inside a growing credit card scam that’s quietly bleeding local businesses of thousands of dollars. Our investigation has uncovered a clear pattern: many of these fraudulent charges can be traced back to stolen payment information, taken from inside Belize’s BPO sector. And in a rare turn, one former BPO employee who was fired for stealing that data has agreed to talk. He’s speaking out anonymously, and only after the business he scammed cleared his debt. He’s now walking us through exactly how the scheme works, how agents bypass security, how the information moves, and how quickly it can be taken, sometimes right in the middle of a customer call. Paul Lopez begins our report with what this former agent says is really happening behind the scenes.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

News Five is digging deeper into a sophisticated credit card scam that’s costing local businesses thousands of dollars. Our investigation shows that many of these bogus purchases trace back to stolen payment information, taken from inside the BPO sector. And in a rare move, one former BPO employee who was fired for stealing that data has agreed to talk. He speaks to us anonymously, and only after the business he defrauded cleared his debt. He’s now detailing exactly how the scheme works, and what he says happens behind the scenes.

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“All call centers are different. All call centers are different when it comes to obtaining people’s personal information. I have been at some call centers when you punch in the people’s number it disappears with an x one time. So, there is no way you could get that number, because every time you put in that number it disappears. Then you have some call centers where the number does not disappear. They just mute the call, meaning that the person that will listen back to the call to grade you won’t hear the customer’s information. So that is blocked out. That is a part of their PCI. But we as agents brains the click and smart, while you punch in that number you can copy it at the same time on a blank page that they are not even seeing, because some call centers have the screens recording and some don’t have it recorded. And while you the punch in that number you can copy and paste on a blank page and send that to yourself and get access to that number. And then they have call centers that have apps that you can access through your phone. So, when you have that app on your computer and you done send that to yourself on the computer it automatically goes to your phone, to yourself. So, you are not in work, but you still have access to that number on your phone through the app.”

 

So, with strict surveillance and supervisors constantly on the floor, how did he manage to slip through?

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“Like I said the respect you give people is the respect they give you. I am not a person that acts wild or on the call floor shouting for that one or walking around and being a troublemaker. So, once you are not a troublemaker, they don’t have any reason to circle you too much or suspect anything. And worse you are a good agent so there is no need for them to say let’s stay through that bay. It’s who you associate with and how you carry yourself.”

 

When his company eventually connected the dots, with help from a local business he had scammed, he assumed the police were next. But there were no charges, just a termination. By then, he had already gathered so many credit card numbers that he couldn’t even keep count. He says stealing that data can take just a few minutes, sometimes right in the middle of a customer call.

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“It could be quick. Because when you done get a sale to say get a sale, you have to go through your script with the person, make sure you go over what they are purchase, two three four times, or two times, depends to make sure alright, it’s a remote you want to buy, this is the remote, the tv remote. We use this kind of battery, I can program it for you right there when you get it. So, it takes you a lot of time. Depends on how much time you want to spend with the customer, providing the customer with the best customer service possible to make that sale. So, you could get that in two minutes, three minutes.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Be real with me, how much credit card information you thieves or how much clients you stole their credit card information?”

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“I would not say thief or stole, because they gave me that. If you stole that, it is because you force them into giving you that. I won’t say thief. We nuh wah she thief or stole because I still did not do anything when it comes to that like how other people were doing it or how regular people mih the do it. Obtain. Lot, lot, lot.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What is that?”

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“Lot, but it is not a lot that I use. It is a good amount to say if a certain one nuh work you just use a next one.”

 

It’s still a crime, no matter how casually he talks about it. And tonight, we’re learning just how far some agents go. He says stolen credit card numbers have practically become a side business: agents use them to buy food for big groups of coworkers, then pocket the cash from whoever ordered it. Even more troubling, he says some of this stolen information is now being sold on the streets, raising serious concerns about how widespread the scam has become.

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“We don’t want to judge people by the areas they come from, but they have a lot of people that work at the call centers that are in gangs. They get charged and nobody knows because they don’t go through their files and police record and things like that. And they have that idle mindset that says well we have access to credit card numbers. They listen to scamming music.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What do you mean scamming music?”

 

Voice of: Former BPO Employee

“They have scamming music about chap the line, Jamaica, Trinidad, depends.”

 

These revelations paint a troubling picture of data security in the BPO world, and of a street‑level market for stolen financial info that’s only getting bigger. With businesses left to absorb the losses, pressure is mounting on authorities to crack down. Paul Lopez for News Five.