The investigative report by Channel 4 will only be aired on October 4 at 9 pm, according to the channel web site. "Sue Turton, senior reporter for

Channel 4 News, investigates the call centre security failures which allow personal financial details to be stolen and illegally traded," the web site says.

Clearly, India's call centres have a role in this expose since Channel 4 has been in touch with the National Association on Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) which speaks for call centre and information technology businesses in India.

In turn, Nasscom has served Channel 4 with a legal notice asking for a "clearer picture of who sold what data to whom'' from the news channel, sources in Nasscom said. That information has been refused by Channel 4, Nasscom also said today in a statement.

The Indian BPO industry has not taken this new investigative report well, with veterans now saying that it is "virtually" impossible to steal credit card data or passport and driving licence numbers. They have also suggested that vested interests are at play in this investigation.

"Something is amiss, that's what I think," said Raman Roy, founder of Quattro, an outsourcing company based in New Delhi. "I think that anyone with information as critical as this -- proof of confidential data sold off illegally -- should come forward with that information and help us tackle the fraud legally. Else, I think I can ask if vested interests are at play in such investigations," he said.

Nasscom has in fact made an impassioned plea for further details on what Channel 4 is calling the data theft "scandal", a word that will no doubt give the IT services industry jitters. However, since the report is yet to be telecast, it is not clear who has been caught selling off the information illegally.

News reports in the UK, where unions like Amicus have viulently opposed outsourcing say that the Channel 4 story details how "middlemen" offer bulk packages of credit card numbers and other sensitive information for a price.

Nasscom's lawyers, who have been in touch with Channel 4, have reported back that the channel has not approached the banks whose credit card data has allegedly been stolen.

"We are concerned about the verifiability of such stories, especially sting operations where monetary inducements were provided. These operations sometimes go beyond uncovering wrongdoing and actually induce criminal activity that is then recorded and aired," Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said in a statement.