A 26-year-old lady was caught up in a financial maze following a cyber scam in 2022, and she’s still in shock at the unbelievable loss of ₹19 lakh. Law enforcement authorities have made great attempts, yet the trail has remained undiscovered.
Attracted by an Instagram work-from-home (WFH) advertisement, Ramani V. (name changed) clicked on a link and began getting messages on WhatsApp. She even received calls from the scammers on WhatsApp. As part of her work, she was required to type 40 pages of text in Word format. The mother of a child, Ramani, typed and mailed the material in hopes of getting the job. It took me almost 12 days to do the task. The con artists acting as recruiters told me to submit registration fees, processing costs, quality check fees, salary transaction fees and other expenses once I delivered the content. I sent roughly ₹19 lakh in about 15 days,” she bemoaned.
In addition to draining her account, Ms. Ramani promised gold as security for money while concealing it from her husband. Ms. Ramani, a graduate of the Bachelor of Computer Applications programme, fell victim to cybercrime because she was desperate to make money to improve her family’s standard of living. “To get my money back, I’m working as a receptionist at a gym close to my house. Every day, I’m haunted by this occurrence,” she stated.
A computer scam left 62-year-old businessman Lokesh Reddy (name changed), who ran a wholesale food store, insolvent. Between 2021 and 2023, a fraudster took away ₹90 lakh in around 5,000 transactions. According to Mr. Reddy, he still doesn’t know how he was tricked. He created this account just to do transactions relating to his shop. The con artist used his money to purchase pricey goods from other stores. “The cops are also clueless about what transpired. Currently, the income of my son supports the whole family.
Another businessman, thirty-two, who lost ₹5 lakh after purchasing tissue paper, claimed that he contacted the number after seeing an advertising on Google and ordered tissue paper. However, the other party demanded full payment up front. “I still don’t see why I trusted him. He stopped returning my calls once I paid. I haven’t done business with strangers since then. I now do an extensive background check. I’m learning from it.
Numerous victims The Hindu who was approached declined to talk about the offence. After installing a fake loan app, a Bengaluru public relations expert got into difficulties. She stated she had moved on and didn’t want to discuss. The woman’s pictures were pilfered, and her altered image was shared with her loved ones.
Most of the time, victims of cybercrimes decide it would be embarrassing to report the incident to the authorities and never even bother. According to the authorities, the victims also conceal the occurrence from their relatives.
Source: The Hindu