HYDERABAD: While the proliferation of the Internet has brought with it many advantages, it has also spawned a new breed of criminals who utilise the anonymity that it offers to trap their prey and loot them of their hard-earned money.
Among the many cybercrimes reported and investigated by the police is the ‘gift fraud’, a crime that not only deprives the victims of their valuables but also their faith in relationships. In a recent case investigated and solved by the Hyderabad Cybercrime sleuths, a woman fell prey to a cybercriminal lurking on a matrimonial website and ended up losing a whopping Rs 18 lakh.
The victim met the accused on the website where he expressed his interest in her. Introducing himself as a civil engineer working in the US, the accused managed to convince her that he was interested in marrying her. They exchanged phone numbers and one day, he told her that he was sending some gold ornaments and US Dollars and expensive mobiles for her.
Some days later, she received a call from a man who claimed to be a Customs officer from Delhi. The “Customs officer” told her that the parcel sent by the “civil engineer” had arrived but was stuck in Customs as she had to pay some charges. By the time the woman realised she was being cheated, she ended up paying Rs 18 lakh.
A senior police officer said that the accused is a Nigerian who obtained a mobile number starting with +1, the country code for the US. Using this mobile number, he made the victim believe that he was contacting her from the US.
“Crooks specifically targeting women on matrimonial websites use SIMs with the series +44 and +1 to convince their prey,” the police officer said.He said that the cybercriminals use the SIM cards to create a WhatsApp account that they use sitting in India and manage to cheat gullible people. “When contacting strangers, especially on matrimonial websites, thorough background verification is a must to avoid being cheated and heartbroken,” the police officer said.
CASE UNFOLDs
A woman who fell prey to a cybercriminal lurking on a matrimonial website ended up losing a whopping Rs 18 lakh Introducing himself as a civil engineer working in the US, the accused managed to convince her that he was interested in marrying her. The accused was a Nigerian who obtained a mobile number starting with +1, the country code for the US