22 cyber fraud cases registered in past six months

Manish Gajbhiye

Aurangabad, July 5:

With the increase in large-scale digital financial transactions, the graph of cyber frauds shows an upward rise. In all, 22 cases of cyber frauds have been registered at the Cyber Crime police station in the city from January 2021 to June 2021, while the police managed to arrest four fraudsters, informed the police sources.

The cheaters, taking advantage of the digital illiteracy of the common people, duped them of lakhs of rupees through the online system. Notably, senior citizens and women are frequently entangled in the trap of these fraudsters. The residents are duped financially and defamed as well on social media. Hence, the experts opined that all the precautionary measures should be taken while operating the online financial systems and secure their social media accounts.

OLX Fraud

OLX fraud is a common trap to drag the victims into it. On these goods selling websites, the culprits post the advertisement for either buying or selling things. The victim, after visiting these sites, call the number given on the site and they are asked to pay the amount online if they are purchasing anything or receive the payment online if they are selling anything. When they received an OTP on their mobile phone, the fraudsters ask for that OTP to clear the transaction or click the link sent to them. Once the victim follows the guidelines given by the cheaters, all the amount from their bank account is withdrawn.

Asking Bank Details

Another method adopted by the cheaters is that they search for the victims, especially senior citizens, homemakers, and retired employees. They tell them that they are calling from their bank and their bank account, credit card, debit card, aadhar link would be deactivated. They have to activate it immediately, or all their money from the account will be scrapped. Out of fear, the victims follow the directives given by the cheaters. They ask them to make an online transaction on their bank account of a small amount and ask them to share the OTP or the link. Once it is done, the cheaters withdrew all the amount from the account.

Demand for Money on Facebook Messenger

In this type of fraud, the cheaters hack the account or make fake Facebook accounts of eminent persons who had a huge friend list. From these fake accounts, they sent messages to the friends of this person seeking financial aid as he is facing a severe financial crisis. The friends are asked to deposit the amount in a certain bank account. Even the person whose name is being used for this purpose is unaware of it.

Duping victims through social media platforms

It has become a tendency in the social media arena to develop a friendship with unknown persons. The fraudsters pose to be foreigners develop proximity with the victims, either men or women, through chats and messages. They then pretend to send expensive gifts from abroad. Later, the victims get a phone call that they are calling from the customs department, and there is a parcel in their name, in which they have found foreign currency or expensive items. They will have to pay the cuties to clear the parcel, or action will be taken against them if it is not cleared.

Lewd Messages, Pictures sent on social media accounts

The miscreants make a fake profiles on social media platforms and sent lewd messages and pictures to the women. It is done for defaming or troubling the victims. The culprits in such cases are generally acquaintances, who want to fulfill their evil motives to disturb the married life of the victim, spoil the proposed marriage, or defame the victim in the society, it has been observed.

The fraudsters are fetching new methods and techniques to dupe the residents. Asking to share OTP and clicking the links are the most common types to dupe the residents. The links are of the applications, including Quick Support, Any Desk, Remote Access, Team Viewer, and others. There are thousands of these applications due to which the cheaters can empty the bank accounts after clicking these links. The fraudsters operate from the remote areas of various states, use fake identity proofs for sim cards and bank accounts and frequently change their whereabouts. Hence, it becomes very critical for the police to trace the accused. The police have solved several cases, but the residents have to be precautious. Considering a large number of cyber frauds, the government is planning measures to capture the accused at the earliest.

- Geeta Bagwade

PI, Cyber Crime Police Station, Aurangabad.

The banks, on several occasions, warn the customers never to share any information about their bank account details with anyone. Messages are issued to the customers about not sharing the OTP of their financial transactions, quarries regarding credit cards, debit cards, or aadhar link, to the unknown persons calling on phones. The banks never ask for any details as they already have the details of the customers. Hence, the customers should be more precarious. In case of any problems regarding the transaction, they should directly contact the concerned branch and clear it from the bank employees.

- Deepakraj Jambhrunkar

Chief Manager, Bank of Baroda