Can everybody be duped by cyber crooks? Going by the past one or two years, we are forced to believe so. After the Jamtara cyber crooks scammed the country like an epidemic, with a small pause, a sinister and more effective wave of cyber crimes have hit the nation. The cyber scam spree does not seem to get arrested, on the contrary it is getting crazier by the day. From job to loan to investment digital scams to digital arrest, the platter of cyber crimes based on social engineering and psychological gameplay seems to be at its best. Never ever criminals had such a field day.
Additionally, the non-detection of cases also does not carry any stigma for the police and investigating agencies. As if this state of affairs was not crazy enough, getting to know the profile of the victims, would leave us gaping. Any amount of awareness is not yielding results. The victims are mostly well educated, largely professionals, some very conversant with technology, most conversant / familiar with the law and are matured and experienced. Most fall for the greed of money, some in need of easy loans and others because of mortal fear of criminal law and processes, as in the case of digital arrests.
The latest to fall in this well-oiled cyber trap was an IT officer who lost Rs. 91.67 lakhs. IT official being trapped but true. It is an investment fraud and he was lured by the social media. She was following Rachna Ranade, an investment expert and expressed her interest in investing through a link provided. She shared her contact details. Later she was added to a WhatsApp group where investment tips were shared. As many in the group were supposedly making profits, which encouraged them to invest similarly. She reached out to the group admin who provided a link to install a mobile app for the purpose. The app name was similar to a multinational bank.
She invested a small amount and immediately got 15% profit. Forged acknowledgement letters from the bank and SEBI were provided to create full confidence. Between May 15 and June 3, she invested Rs.57.67 lakhs from different accounts and the app reflected Rs.4 crore profit. Seeing more than handsome gains, she tried to withdraw. At that time she was asked Rs. 34 lakhs as service charge to withdraw her profits. After paying this amount she tried to withdraw the money, then she was asked to pay a security deposit of Rs. 40 lakhs. At this point she realised she was cheated and then filed a case with the Mumbai Cyber Police. How easily people can part with their hard earned money has to be seen to be believed.
GULLIBLE, GREEDY, IGNORANT AND SCARED VICTIMS ARE A DREAM CATCH FOR THE CYBER CROOKS FOR HANDSOME GAINS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.