Browning has been described as the "godfather" of scambusting. Through his technique of "reverse engineering" scams—gaining access to scammers' computers when they attempt to connect to his—he has infiltrated over 3,000 scam call centres and made thousands of "saves" by intercepting active scam calls and warning victims in real time. A software engineer, Browning began researching scam operations after his relative lost money to a
technical support scam. He started his YouTube channel to upload footage to send to authorities as evidence against scammers. He has since carried out investigations into various scams, in which he infiltrates
computer networks run by scammers who claim to be technical support experts Such scams have involved unsolicited calls offering computer services, or websites posing to be reputable companies such as
Dell or
Microsoft. During a private meeting with his associates, Chauhan was quoted as stating, "We don't give a shit about our customers". Some of his call centre agents were recorded scamming and laughing at a British man who admitted to being depressed. They were also recorded conning a blind woman with diabetes. Chauhan denied the allegations in a phone interview with the
BBC, and he was arrested along with his accountant Sumit Kumar in a raid by
Delhi Police. On 2 May 2022, Chauhan was acquitted of all charges at a court hearing in
Gurugram and released. In March 2021, Browning and fellow YouTuber
Mark Rober collaborated to construct and distribute automated
glitter bombs to identify and report
money mules who were receiving their money via shipping services, such as
FedEx, before sending it to scammers. Browning was covered in a 2021
New York Times article documenting his confrontation of a small-scale refund scam operation based in
Kolkata, India. The journalist, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, a native of Kolkata who moved to the United States, described a December 2019 scam-baiting operation by Browning, during which Browning intercepted a refund scam involving an elderly woman. Suspicious, the woman told the scammer that she would cease contact with him, only for the scammer to lock her computer. Browning was able to contact the woman and help her unlock the computer. Bhattacharjee later flew to India to check out call centers that Browning had identified as possible scammers and to confront the individual who had perpetrated the refund scam on the elderly woman.
Temporary channel deletion On 26 July 2021, Browning was targeted by scammers who pretended to be YouTube support staff and misled him into deleting his own channel. His channel was reinstated four days later. He explained in a video that the scammer used
Google Chat to send an authenticated
phishing email from the "google.com" domain and convinced Browning to delete his channel under the pretense of moving it to a new YouTube brand account.
Scam Interceptors In 2022,
BBC commissioned for a
television series for
BBC One, Scam Interceptors, presented by
Rav Wilding. In the series, Browning and a team of
white hat hackers attempt to intercept criminals and prevent fraudulent activity. The first series premiered on 4 April 2022, and the second on 1 May 2023. ==Awards and nominations==