HYDERABAD: A woman in her mid-50s, who lost her son in a road accident recently, received around Rs 9 lakh as insurance cover. But she lost all the money to a cyber fraud, when criminals cheated her by offering a gift parcel from abroad as bait.
Hers is not the only case. Several people in Hyderabad, spread across three police commissionerates, have lost a whopping Rs 3.49 crore to cyberfrauds during the lockdown between March 22 and April 30. While crime on a whole has witnessed a drastic fall during the lockdown, there is no let-up in cybercrimes.
Another such incident is of a Cyberabad businessman who lost Rs 10 lakh to criminals who trapped him with a KYC upgradation bait.
“A majority of these frauds happen through phone messages or links in the name of Covid-19. People who are hungry for information about Covid-19 click on such links or open such messages and end up being swindled,” says ACP, Cybercrimes, Cyberabad Ch Y Srinivas. An advisory has also been issued about fake links of the AarogyaSetu app, he adds.
Frauds executed by Delhi-based call centres, like job and visa frauds have decreased, but those related to matrimonials, gifts, alcohol home delivery and ‘winning the lottery’ are continuing during the lockdown.
“The number of cases reported has come down, but people are falling prey to the same types of frauds and losing their money,” says ACP Cybercrimes, Hyderabad, KVM Prasad. S Harinath, ACP Cybercrimes, Rachakonda states that people are not too busy during the lockdown. They tend to respond to unknown calls or messages immediately and land in the trap.
Getting fooled
While crime, on the whole, has fallen during the lockdown, there is no let-up in cybercrimes. Job and visa frauds have reduced. But many are falling prey to fake matrimonial ads, gift schemes, alcohol delivery or ‘lottery wins’.