Why the authorities cannot clamp down on these scams, especially those originating in India and Africa, I do not know. A screening of telephone calls from these countries alone could stop millions of pounds being scammed. Perhaps it is far more complicated than I think to do so, but something must be done to stop these awful crimes
Unfortunately the scammers are far, far ahead of the game. If I'm looking into someone using a FB or Insta profile to extort money* out of someone, whether it's a romance scam or blatant theft, as soon as the information leads back to another continent it effectively goes cold. It's hard enough to prove someone using an account in the UK is the person who owns or is found with the phone...
I'm absolutely with you that something needs to be done at a more local level, but I haven't the knowledge about the technical side to see how you'd stop the scammers without filtering the companies that have a genuine overseas call centre.
I've sat for hours with people trying to make them see that the person on the other end of the messages asking for money are not in love, they're just in it for the gain. Even after them saying "I suppose it was a bit strange, yes, it probably is a scam"... I've gone back a week later and found them talking again "just in case" it's genuine. Heartbreaking how people will put their faith into empty words from a supposedly kind stranger.
Yes, when I see what I see and hear, and get knowledge of how people have been scammed, I do wonder why it is that so many are gullible and believe that stranger on the phone / internet who tells them lies, getting them to divulge very personal information that they would not do to in a face to face situation. Of course, thank goodness not everyone that’s for sure is taken in, but it is that 1% that do is all the scammers need.
The police I know have not got the resources to shut down all the rouge call centres, but they do have some success in getting especially the Indian authorities to take local action, with some centres being closed down. But I know that for everyone closed down, another 2,3 or more come “on line”.
I wish I had the IT expertise that some do to hack into these call centres and cause havoc. If I was in charge I would pay large to hire these specialists to hit the scammers hard.