Jim Browning (YouTuber)
Jim Browning is the Internet alias of a Northern Irish YouTuber and grey hat hacker whose content primarily focuses on scambaiting.
Jim Browning | ||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||
Nationality | Northern Irish | |||||||||
Occupation |
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YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channels | Jim Browning | |||||||||
Years active | 2014–present | |||||||||
Genre | Scam baiting | |||||||||
Subscribers | 1.85 million | |||||||||
Total views | 116,398,676 | |||||||||
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Updated 15 July 2020 |
Scambaiting
Browning carries out investigative scam baits in which he infiltrates computer networks run by technical support scammers and fraudsters posing as IRS agents and random aliases through the use of remote access software and social engineering.[1][2][3][4]
BBC Panorama investigation
Browning was featured in a March 2020 episode of the British documentary series Panorama, in which a large-scale technical support scamming operation was infiltrated and extensively documented by Browning and fellow YouTuber Karl Rock. The two recorded drone and CCTV footage of the facility in Gurugram, Haryana and gathered incriminating evidence linking alleged scammer Amit Chauhan, who also operated a fraudulent travel agency called "Faremart Travels'', to a series of scams targeting computer-illiterate and elderly people in the United Kingdom and United States.[5][6][7] During a private meeting with his associates, Chauhan was quoted as stating that "We don't give a shit about our customers.", expressing apathy towards his victims. A number of call centre agents under his command were recorded laughing at a British man who admitted to have been suffering from depression after being conned into paying for a non-existent computer problem.[8] They were also recorded conning a blind woman with diabetes into paying to fix a bogus computer virus.[9] Although Chauhan denied the allegations in a phone interview with the BBC, he was subsequently arrested along with his accountant Sumit Kumar in a raid after the exposé was aired.[10][11]
References
- Gelinas, James (20 June 2019). "How some consumers are fighting back against robocalls". Komando.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- Cellan-Jones, Rory (25 October 2019). "Tech Tent: Shutting down the software scammers". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- "Tech support scammers hacked back by vigilante". Naked Security. 4 March 2020.
- "Robocall revenge: Meet the techies turning the tables on scammers". CBS News. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- Mooney, John. "Northern Irish hacker exposes call centre scam in India". The Times. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- "VIDEO: Briti häkker avaldas salvestised petukõnekeskuses toimuvast". Postimees (in Estonian). 3 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- McCarter, Reid. "Hacker breaks into scammers' CCTV cameras and computer records". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- "Panorama - Spying on the Scammers". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- "Spying on the Scammers: Part 3".
- "Scam call centre owner in custody after the exposé". BBC News. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- Dhankhar, Leena (4 March 2020). "Udyog Vihar call centre duped at least 40,000 in 12 countries; 2 arrested". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 5 March 2020.