I believe they are. I believe they are using hacked PBX's and they move from location to location, so they authorities have a hard time catching them.

I talked with a lawyer who litigated against a company that did this, back in the the early 00's, and he indicated they are criminal organizations setup purely for the purpose of defrauding the people that play along with their pitches. What I don't understand is why the trail of money is so hard to follow and prosecute. I think the barrier to catching them is just too high. I once tried to get AT&T to help me catch someone that repeatedly called me and wouldn't stop. The process they had in place was so onerous that after a few days in I just gave up. It's clear they do NOT want to help catch them.