Shillong, Sept 15: In this digital age when plastic money or transactions online has made life convenient for millions, it has also opened a shady digital tunnel to defraud gullible people.
The recent online scam, in which about 700 people across Meghalaya have been duped, is just a tip of the iceberg. Meghalaya has registered several cases of cyber fraud and has managed to put on hold bank accounts trying to defraud people from 2019 till date.
The amount involved in these bank accounts is close to Rs. 2.4 crore. However, experts say there are several unreported cases and many don’t go before the police out of embarrassment. There are several red flags when it comes to online scam and here are a few.
Love or Foolishness?
“There was this case when a married woman in Shillong fell for a guy online through social media. He was a good-looking Caucasian male claiming to be from the UK. This married woman clandestinely continued to chat with this man for several days without the knowledge of her husband and was infatuated,” an official said.
Over a short period this friendship blossomed into love from the woman’s end and the male friend one day said he would be coming to India and showed the woman the expensive gifts he was bringing for her from London.
He showed the pictures of the gifts stuffed in a suitcase that included expensive perfumes like Chanel, Christian Dior, hand bags of brands Chanel, Hermès Birkin, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and others. There were other items too in the suitcase that included jewellery, clothes, shoes and all from world renowned brands.
“The woman was constantly in touch with her friend-lover over social media during his so called trip to India to meet her and then he said that the Customs have confiscated the items in the airport and to get these out he needs to pay Rs. 10 lakh for the items worth crores. He further said that his wallet was picked and so he lost his bank cards and money,” the official said.
The woman out of love or foolishness, the official informed, paid almost Rs. 7 lakh, much of the family’s life long savings. When she paid the amount he kept insisting for more. However, when she said she didn’t have any more money, he cut off all contacts and later it was found that the individual was a Nigerian scamster. By that time, the woman had lost her heart, her peace of mind and her family’s money.
“Such incidents are seldom reported due to various compulsions. However, this woman wanted to report but instead of the police she sought help from her friends without letting her husband know and that’s how the story came to light,” the official added.
Few of the red flags
Apart from such honey traps there are the hardcore scamsters who mask as Finfluencers and dole out unsolicited investment plans to people over the social media and invariably promising high returns.
Officials said one of the biggest red flags of such scams is: if it sounds unbelievable, don’t believe it – like the expensive gifts promised to the woman by a stranger. Moreover, if someone promises a high return over 7 percent (SBI fixed deposit annual return benchmark), take a moment, pause and rethink investment plans or consult friends and family.
Second red flag is a shorter duration for high return. Some assure high returns every month, which is totally an absolute economic mirage. Every genuine fund needs time to grow. Even in the stock market, there are indicators for growth and fall of a share and these are based on certain market movements and overall economy. Nothing happens out of the blue and definitely not high growth on investments in a short period.
Experts say people should avoid being greedy and try getting rich in no time. Success and being financially secure and strong comes with hard work and meticulous planning. “When we dedicate ourselves to hard work and with a definite plan, luck follows,” an investment expert said.
