We are very much dependent on digital tools. Technology has made many jobs easier than ever before.
Countries, for example, can now rely on one another to complete a portion of their tasks. As the number of people running their business operations online is increasing, cybercrime cases are also increasing.
BPO service providers assist companies with many services like customer service, finance and accounting, marketing, HR services, web design and development, SEO services, and many more.
What is the Underground BPO?
BPO is defined as a business practice when a company contracts the operation of a specific business process to a third-party service provider.
BPO companies that provide outsourcing services without any license, certification, or physical offices are known as "underground BPOs. They continue their services regardless of the legal boundaries.
How Underground BPOs Scam Their Clients
There have been many reports of clients being scammed by underground BPOs. The Philippines, known as an offshore paradise, was the first to address this issue. However, other giant outsourcing provider countries like India, Mexico, Ukraine, and Malaysia also have many underground BPOs in the market.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) —The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has received allegations that registered ITES/BPO companies are losing personnel to "underground" IT-BPO entities operating in a work-from-home model. (The Manila Times).
NEW DELHI, INDIA —According to another report by Hindustan Times, " Increasing reports of such fraud businesses are bound to hurt India’s $110 billion BPO industry, which is hurt by a lack of robust oversight and tight regulation."
Common Types of BPO Scams
Phishing
The act of pretending to be an authentic business to obtain confidential data from people is called phishing. The information includes bank details, credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers, etc.
Remember, a legitimate business will never ask for your personal information. If you receive a call from your bank asking for your credit card details, it's a scam. They might tell you about some problems related to your account.
Do not respond to such cold calls. Inform local authorities if possible.
Identity Fraud
Identity fraud is another common type of BPO scam. Fraud BPOs collect private information using unsecured WiFi, social media accounts, and other types of information repositories.
In this case, the data is willingly shared by the client.
The BPOs collect the data through breaching which is illegal. Scammers may use that data to open a bank account, license, passport, etc. Then, they use that data to scam other clients.
Data Breach
A data breach is a type of infringement. The scammers target reputed companies to collect their customer databases through data breaching.
Many businesses are losing their customers and reputations due to the misconduct of data breaches.
Be careful who you hire for your next project. Do proper background checks before sharing your consumer data with any company.
How to Find a Legit BPO?
Background Research
Check if your prospective BPO company is registered and has all the types of licenses required to complete the task. You can get a lot of information from their website, but they still can not be trusted.
Nowadays, scam companies also have well-developed websites. Look for reputed online review-generating platforms like Clutch. co, GoodFirms, Software Suggestions, etc.
Read the customer reviews from these sites.
Demos and Samples
A portfolio can tell you about a company. Before you assign any task to any BPO, make sure that the company has relevant experience in the sector.
Ask for demos and samples of their previous tasks.
Data Security
Data security is a must since you will share much of your business information with the BPO company. Many BPO firms adhere to data and compliance standards established by organizations like ISO.
Check if the company you are looking into can ensure your cybersecurity and is ready to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). You need to verify their local license if you are hiring an offshore outsourcing company.
Web Analysis
There are a lot of fraudulent websites claiming to be famous brands. Be cautious while checking websites.
BPOs involved in fraudulent activities have a lot of spam pages with irrelevant links to the keywords of their websites. Look up the domain age, URL reputation, and web content.
In the end, you still look for a company that can help you with your business. You require a BPO firm that can get your jobs done better, quicker, and more professionally without any security issues. Scams are everywhere. You may not be able to stop the con artists, but you can protect yourself. Understand the company in which you are investing.
At ASL BPO, we understand the confidentiality of data provided by a client. We make sure that we have our cybersecurity in place.
Our organization adheres to the Information Security Law, which the government has mandated as mandatory for all BPO companies. The manual which serves as the guidance to be adhered to follow the law is called the Government of Bangladesh Information Security Manual (GoBISM)
It is based on international standards of ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002.
Contact us for further information.