KOCHI: An
IT professional
from Aluva is the latest to fall prey to an online scam in which he was promised
high returns
through online trading.
Cyber Crime Police Station (Rural) on Thursday registered a case in which they said the Aluva resident had invested Rs 50 lakh online after the “scamster allegedly offered high returns through online trading”.
More than 157 people had fallen prey to
cyber frauds
in the district last year.
According to cyber police station officials, victims had lost huge sums – several lakhs to over a crore – in most cases. People had even taken loans to make payments.
Take the case of the IT professional. “The victim even took a personal loan to make payments. What is more concerning is that the victim in this case was an IT professional. It indicates that people can be manipulated by these scamsters irrespective of their professional qualifications. People need to be cautious about such scams,” said a source with the Rural Police.
“Scamsters initially approach people through Instagram and Facebook. Those who show interest are added to Telegram groups. Initially, victims are given multifold returns to gain their trust. Other group members, who are part of the racket, would share their ‘testimonials’ about huge returns as well. Seeing all this, the victims invest huge sums,” said an officer with the cyber operations of the police.
“In the city limits alone, victims had lost nearly Rs 6 crore to online fraud last year. Two instances of a Thrikkakara native losing Rs 2.6 crore and an Aluva native losing Rs 1.10 crore are under investigation. Delay in reporting the crime is a major issue that the police are facing. If information is passed on to the number 1930 at the earliest, chances of finding a resolution are the highest,” said police sources.
District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vaibhav Saxena said most are oblivious about the possibility of such a crime happening to them until it happens to themselves.
“Till it comes home, people are not worried about such a possibility. Though the internet is handy and useful, users, especially those who are not familiar with its functioning, should be careful while handling cyberspace. For instance, many wouldn’t know that they have given permissions to applications for unnecessary access,” said Saxena.
