Indian Call Center Agent Convicted On A Cyber Crime
"Security is not the responsibility of just one individual or department within a company. It is the responsibility of every single person within an organization. It is not a responsibility that can be delegated via e-mails and long distance teleconferences." Bangalore Police arrested Nadeem Kashmiri; an Indian call center agent and the primary suspect for the lost funds from a score of customers of HSBC bank in the UK.Nadeem Kashmiri is being charged in India with stealing customer data that was sent to Nadeem's accomplices in the UK. Nadeem's accomplices assisted him in withdrawing funds from customers' HSBC bank accounts between March and May of the current year (2008). Approximately twenty customers of HSBC reported that funds had disappeared from their accounts. This prompted an investigation by bank officials, who found that US$424,689 had been diverted by Nadeem and his associates. It is possible that additional HSBC customers may come forward in the future and report losses that will raise that figure. HSBC has announced that it will reimburse its customers whose accounts were subjected to theft by Indian call center agent Nadeem and his associates. During HSBC's investigation, it was discovered that Nadeem had provided an invalid cell phone number and address in his employment application. He also did not disclose his previous employment with Accenture. Once he was identified as a suspect, he could not be traced to his residence because HSBC did not know where he lived. London-based HSBC saved $215 by not having a standard background check conducted on Nadeem. Background checks are now being insisted upon by many international clients of commercial outsourcing facilities in India, but their application at captive facilities has been uneven. Western firms that experience security problems offshore have most likely been sending out warning signals that were ignored, signals that involve problems with recruiting, training, operations, and quality assurance. In HSBC's case, to have an Indian call center agent immediately begin violating security rules -- as soon as he came out onto the call center floor -- indicates a failure by HSBC management to properly monitor employee activities at the most crucial period of their employment. Labels: call center, call center agent, call center agent stories |
