Online fraudsters make youth easy prey

Online fraudsters make youth easy prey

26 cases registered in the first two and a half months of this year, say city cyber cell officials

VISAKHAPATNAM: A polytechnic student from Tekkali of Srikakulam district recently met a person from the United Kingdom in his Facebook walls. The stranger befriended the 22-year-old student in no time, saying that the latter had a job waiting for him in London and the salary would be in lakhs in Indian currency. But there was a condition.

The student had to pay initially Rs 11 lakh for it, if he wanted the job.

Lured by the offer, the student convinced his parents who sold some of their properties and remitted the money.

The money was transferred online and after that there has been no response from the stranger.

This is one of many cases registered by the cyber crime police. And the available records suggest that 26 and odd such cases have been registered with the City Cyber Cell in the last and a half months.

“The cases include Facebook befriending frauds, job frauds, Olx frauds, lottery frauds and a few others. Among the 26, One Time Password (OTP) cases are 12, wherein people had revealed confidential details, when fraudsters called them up to say that they were bank authorities,” says Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Cell inspector K Satyanarayana.

Giving details about another case registered recently in the Port City,  he said a B.Tech student from the city was befriended by a person through free online classified website OLX.

The latter told the student that he hailed from Arunachal Pradesh and he would like to sell a `12 lakh sports bike (showroom price) for just `5.7 lakh. With the youngster pestering his father, an employee of Hindustan Shipyard Limited, the latter took a bank loan and gave the money.

The fraudster after collecting the money, convinced the student that the bike was on the way, awaiting some clearance in Hyderabad and it would reach him soon. Days passed, before the family realised  that they had been duped.

According to the police, more than 20 complaints are still pending at various police stations and they are yet to reach the cyber crime cell.

“The number of cases seems to be mounting. Though awareness campaigns are being conducted on a large scale, students are falling for the fraudsters. Since the demonetisation, the online frauds are on the rise,” said a senior police officer.

According to police, in the last three years, around 900 cases were reported, including 400 last year and 800 are still under investigation. Sources said that victims were losing hope on the recovery of money.
The city police say that lack manpower and adequate technological support are the factors that are hindering the investigations.

The proposal to set up a cyber crime police station is yet to be grounded, though land for the project has been sanctioned for it in Visakhapatnam.

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