When a Delhi district court judge was recently duped of Rs. 1.16 lakh through a phone call, it was a clear signal from fraudsters in the Capital that they did not intend to spare anyone.
Fraudsters will strike, no matter how educated, aware or well-off you are. You may be an Army man, a school principal, an accomplished doctor, or a police officer, but the moment you fall for offers too-good-to-be-true, you will be left regretting.
Greatly helped by the ever-improving technology, fraudsters are coming up with creative ideas and elaborate arrangements to lure people into their traps. From a simple trick of selling glass slabs in the name of iPhones to duping people by promising them an impossible 20 per cent monthly interest on their investment, you will encounter such cheats on roads, through phone calls, and in newspaper advertisements.
“These criminals know that they will find their victims the moment they show them unbelievable dreams. Their victims do not realise there are no free lunches. They succumb to their greed,” says Crime Branch’s Joint CP, Ravindra Yadav, who has a reputation of having led successful operations against dozens of such crimes.
Behind the masks
An increasing number of people arrested in such cheating cases are educated and hail from well-off families. Earning through fraudulent means attracts them because of the easy money involved and a slim chance of getting busted.
Moreover, police officers attribute the large number of educated people turning into cheaters to the technical knowledge and ambitious planning these crimes require.
Last month, the police busted a gang that had allegedly cheated more than 500 persons of over Rs. 3 crore by calling them over phone on the pretext of offering insurance policies. “They had set up a fake call centre, and would call at least 100 people every day,” says Vijay Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of Police who had busted the gang.
“Most credit/debit card frauds are executed by people who have worked at banks or call centres, and have a good knowledge of how to lure customers,” Mr. Singh adds.
Catch them if you can
Tracking them is usually not easy, as these criminals are often learnt to have analysed the technical aspects that could lead the police to them. “They find it easy to get away because of false identity proofs they submit to obtain SIM cards, Internet connections and bank accounts. But our officers have been persistent in tracking them, at times spending several days travelling to hostile areas across the country to gather evidence against them,” says Mr. Yadav.
The police say they go all out to educate people about the modus operandi of these cheats. “We regularly put out newspapers advertisements to create awareness about such crimes. We have also included the latest gadgetry to meet challenges, and are pooling in resources from our various units as well as private partners,” says another officer.
But the real effort will need to come from the public, say the police. “Just reading about such incidents daily should provide enough protection from these criminals. Unfortunately, people close their minds to logic the moment they come across any offer that promises to multiply their money,” the officer added.
