Strathclyde Police say one in 10 of Glasgow's call
centres has been infiltrated by criminal gangs aiming to commit
fraud.
There are around 300 call centres in the Glasgow area, employing
about 18,000 people. The police told the BBC’s Newsnight Scotland
programme that the Strathclyde force now scoured call centre job
ads so that they could warn potential employers of the problem.
The police would then help those employers to avoid employing
potential criminals. The police say organised criminal gangs had
either placed their own people in the contact centres or coerced
contact centre workers to pass on information to them, using money
or the threat of violence.
The revelation that 10% of Scottish call centres could be
infiltrated by criminals will mean the focus will now move to the
UK call centre industry. Previously, the call centre industry in
India has come under fire from the media for not doing enough to
weed out fraudsters.
UK companies were criticised for outsourcing jobs abroad and
were encouraged to keep them in the UK.