KOCHI: A software company owner, a doctor and a renowned music composer. These were some of the people from Kerala who recently fell prey to cyber frauds.
While the IT professional lost Rs 7 crore, the doctor, who is currently practising in the UK, lost nearly Rs 2 crore. The music director was lucky and had a narrow escape, as the officials at his bank alerted him about a possible fraud when he went to withdraw money.
Alarmingly, many of the victims in cyber fraud cases are well-educated and tech-savvy individuals, the police note. The fraudsters employ familiar methods, such as courier scams, fake stock and trading schemes, foreign exchange frauds, and smaller-scale offers, which have become increasingly common.
Recently, a 29-year-old from Nayarambalam in Kochi lost Rs 43 lakh through an online trading scam. He was apparently lured by the promise of a 600 per cent return on his investment. The fraudsters targeted the victim through social media ads, and operated via a WhatsApp group, according to a police source.
“Expecting high returns, the victim transferred money from his bank accounts to those of the scammers,” the officer says. “All these transactions took place between January and February of this year. The victim eventually grew suspicious and approached the police when the scammers disappeared.”
Detailing the modus operandi of the crime, Samson, a cybercrime investigative officer at the Ernakulam North police station, explained that the victim first came across the fraudulent scheme through a Facebook advertisement, where the scammers promised 600 per cent return on investment through trading.
He was then added to a WhatsApp group named ‘Roark Capital India Equity’. The fraudsters used convincing tactics, showing screenshots and notifications of investment hikes and share values doubling, which made the victim make heavy investments.
“Initially, he received about Rs 8 lakh in returns, which gave him a false sense of security and encouraged him to invest more,” says Samson. “As returns stopped, he approached the police. Recovery of the money will be challenging since the crime took place earlier this year and was only reported recently.”
Cyber expert Nandakishore Harikumar says the majority of cyber frauds occur due to fear in the case of blackmail, or blind belief and irrational hurry when it comes to the lure of making a quick buck.
“There wouldn’t be so many victims, if only people pause for a minute and seek expert opinion before making transactions,” he adds. “Fraudsters have been exploiting this naivety.”
Southern Range IG S Syamsundar says the scenario reminds him of the saying “common sense is uncommon”. He shares an example of a cyber scam, where a man received a call from a fraudster posing as a senior officer from a Central agency, informing him that he was under investigation.
The call escalated to a video ‘interrogation’, and culminated in a threat of arrest. Subsequently, the caller demanded that the victim pay a penalty to drop the charges and avoid further legal procedures. In a panic, he sent the money to a private account controlled by the fraudsters. By the time he realised it was a fraud, it was too late.
“No government agency or institution will ever ask someone to transfer money to a private account. That’s the most important red flag in such cases,” says Syamsundar, urging the public to “immediately contact” the police if they suspect a scam.
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