{
  "id": 858591,
  "title": "US man, 23, gatecrashes alleged scam call centres in India with SpongeBob SquarePants & Tung Tung Tung Sahur mascots",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/us-man-23-gatecrashes-alleged-scam-call-centres-in-india-with",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-14T10:16:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mothership",
    "slug": "mothership",
    "url": "https://mothership.sg/2026/08/man-raids-scam-call-centres-india-spongebob-tung-tung-tung-sahur/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A 23-year-old American man named Justin Ho staged a raid on alleged scam call centres in India on August 7. Accompanied by individuals dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants and Tung Tung Tung Sahur, Ho documented and led the raid in Delhi, India. The video of the event garnered 4.6 million views.\n\nThe SpongeBob mascots were seen crowding and dancing at the alleged call centre, even appearing to engage in a form of physical intimacy with some of the employees. Ho claimed to have obtained information from inside sources that the premises were used for scam call centres. When security guards tried to remove the mascots, they were reportedly overwhelmed and only succeeded in absorbing the physical assaults due to the cushion in the costumes.\n\nHo has since left India and is currently in Thailand, while Tung Tung Tung Sahur remains a mascot in Ho's online documentation of these events.",
  "summary": "“Today we raid call centres in India.”",
  "key_points": [
    "23-year-old American Justin Ho gatecrashes scam call centres in India.",
    "Joins SpongeBob SquarePants and Tung Tung Tung Sahur mascots in Delhi raid.",
    "Video of event goes viral with 4.6 million views."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The staged raid suggests a new tactic in online activism, blurring entertainment and advocacy, and raises questions about the limits of intervention and the role of spectacle in exposing alleged wrongdoing.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}