VOA常速英语2016--印度警方破获美国公民诈骗骗局

AS IT IS 2016-10-17 Indian Police Make Arrests in Plot to Steal Money from Americans 印度警方破获美国公民诈骗骗局

Last week, Indian police arrested at least 70 people suspected of stealing money from people in the United States.

上周，印度警方抓获了70余名以美国人为目标的电信诈骗嫌犯。

The police said people working at a call center in India spoke¹ with the U.S. citizens by telephone. They said the callers acted like they were working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the federal agency that collects income taxes.

警方称，诈骗犯在印度一家呼叫中心给美国人打电话。他们伪装成美国税务机构——美国国税局的工作人员进行诈骗。

About 200 police officers raided three buildings in Thane, a community near the city of Mumbai. Police said the workers used phones in those buildings to call the Americans.

200多名警察搜查了孟买附近塔那(Thane)地区的三栋建筑。警方表示，嫌犯利用建筑内的电话诈骗美国公民。

Parambir Singh is the police commissioner² in Thane. He said that about 700 people worked in the buildings, which were open all day and night. Singh said the workers would call Americans and tell them that they owe taxes. If the Americans failed to pay the money immediately, the callers threatened to send police in 30 minutes.

帕拉姆维尔·辛格(Parambir Singh)是塔那地区的警察局长。他表示，约700余人在呼叫中心日夜不停歇地工作。辛格称，他们呼叫美国人时声称对方欠税。如果不立即支付税款，他们会在30分钟内派警察过去搜查。

Police believe U.S. citizens sent the call center as much as $150,000 a day. They say the victims were told to buy prepaid cash cards and make online payments of $500 to $3,000.

据警方了解，美国人平均每天向该呼叫中心汇款达15万美元。警方称，嫌犯要求受骗民众购买预付现金卡并充值500到3000美元的税金。

The Internal Revenue Service has been telling Americans that it will not send police to arrest them. It also says IRS agents do not threaten people. The agency tells people not to send money electronically to callers who are demanding that method of payment.

美国国税局警告美国公民，不会派警察逮捕他们。另外，国税局的工作人员也不会进行言语恐吓。该机构警告广大民众，切勿向要求使用电子支付方式的呼叫人员汇款。

Indian officials say the call center workers kept more than two-thirds of the money. The rest was kept by people helping³ them in the United States.

印度警方表示，呼叫中心的员工持有超三分之二的诈骗赃款，剩下的分给了美国方面的同伙。

In India, hundreds of Western companies use large companies that employ English-speaking workers. These workers either answer questions from callers overseas or process payments. The employees are usually trained to use sound like people in the countries from which the customers are calling. Police said those working at the call center were trained to sound like Americans.

在印度，像这样雇佣会说英语员工的西方企业有上百家。这些员工不是负责答复海外呼叫者的疑问，就是负责支付流程。通常，这些员工都接受过专业培训，可以根据呼叫者所在国家变化口音。警方表示，这家呼叫中心的员工接受过美国口音方面的培训。

Indian police said they planned to share information about the raid with American officials. Police believe the plot discovered in Mumbai may have also targeted people in Britain and Australia.

印度警方表示，他们计划告知美国方面此次的搜捕行动。警方认为，孟买的这起电信诈骗可能还将英国人和澳大利亚人作为目标。

Words in This Story

income – n. money earned from work or investments

commissioner – n. an official who is responsible for a government agency or part of a government office

customer – n. an individual who buys goods or services from a business

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。