Senku Indraja (23), an M.Sc graduate from Andhra University, received a call from an unknown number on May 31, 2014. The caller introduced himself as Vikram Singh and claimed that the call was from ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, the country’s premier game show, then hosted by the iconic Amitabh Bachchan.
Excited, Indraja took the call earnestly and her joy knew no bounds, when she was informed that she had won Rs. 25 lakh in the annual lucky draw category.
Little did she know that it was only a bait to entice her into a vortex of cyber crime by a seasoned criminal, sitting miles away.
As she took the bait, the caller asked her to deposit Rs. 21,200, through online, into the account of one Anuj Kumar, under the garb of income tax processing. As gullible Indraja went deeper into the deal, she was made to cough up about Rs. 3 lakh under various pretexts such as processing fees, IT returns and so on.
Each time a different caller called up from a different number and instructed her to deposit the amount in a different account. It was only after paying about Rs. 3 lakh that she realised that she was conned.
A case was registered at the Cyber Crime Cell, and after two years of investigation, the police could lay hands on one of the account holders, to whose account she had transferred some funds.
The investigation by the police revealed that the entire operation in the online lottery scam or any cyber crime is a well-oiled web, run by people whose identity are difficult to establish.
Need to know
The online lottery scam is an international scam and it is known by various names such as the Nigerian 419 scam. Nobody knows who is the main kingpin or if it is a mafia-like set-up, with an international network.
The account holders such as Mohammed Sulthan Ansari, who was arrested by the police from West Bengal in this case, was only a conduit whose bank account was used to receive and transfer the funds. The conduits are paid a small commissions and he or she just knows what needs to be known.
“This is an age-old Mafia style operation, where one level of operator has no knowledge of the next level or other people in the trade. And this is a big stumbling block that we have been facing in the cyber crime investigation. We are unable to penetrate the ring or go beyond the arrest of a few frontal offenders,” said DCP (Crime) T. Ravi Kumar Murthy.
Problems
Other major hindrance in the investigation of cyber crime, apart from manpower shortage and technological updates, is lack of support from the service providers.
The cyber world is a huge area and searching a criminal with the help of phone tracking and IP address is like searching a needle in a haystack.
“Our travails are increased by the slow response from the service providers. There is huge delay from the mobile operators in giving the CDR and other details. And when it comes to IP address, the Internet service providers take weeks at times even months to give the details,” said Cyber Cell Inspector K. Satyanarayana Rao.
Most of the offenders use pre-activated SIM cards, which are issued by the mobile operators. “To increase the sales, the distributors and retailers of the mobile operators go out of the way to sell SIM cards without collecting the authentic ID proofs. And invariably, tracking a SIM card we land up at the wrong or fake address,” said outgoing Commissioner of Police Amit Garg.
We are unable to penetrate the ring or go beyond the arrest of a few frontal offenders
T. Ravi Kumar Murthy
DCP (Crime)
There is huge delay from the mobile operators in giving the CDR and other details
K. Satyanarayana Rao
Cyber Cell Inspector
Distributors and retailers of the mobile operators go out of the way to sell SIM cards without collecting the authentic ID proofs
Amit Garg
Commissioner of Police
Lack of support from service providers hampering investigation
