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Unfortunately, these mails have managed to convince many a consumer into believing that they have actually hit the jackpot! And in all innocence, they transfer substantial amounts (varying from Rs 15,000 to Rs 35,000) to the bank account mentioned in the e-mail, towards processing fee and facilitation fee that would ensure that the prize money reaches the winner without any hassle. Once the fee is paid, the person at the other end stops responding to your e-mails and disappears without a trace! But that’s just one of the many frauds being perpetrated by tricksters these days. Aided by internet connections and mobile phones, these tech-savvy modern-day thieves are coming up with a variety of tricks to extract money from gullible consumers. For example, they offer car loans, personal loans and housing loans at low rates of interest through the short messaging service. After a couple of visits, the salesperson collects a cheque or cash towards ‘processing charges’, promises the loan in a day and then, that’s the last one hears of him! You call up his mobile and it is not in service!
The minister of state for communications and IT, Sachin Pilot told the Lok Sabha on March 14 that while 864 cases of internet fraud were reported in 2009, the number went up to 2232 in 2010 and came down to 1798 cases in 2011—the amount involved was Rs 12.3 core in 2010 and Rs 7.8 crore in 2011.This number may not fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because a large number of the victims do not even report to the police. Internet frauds are only one part of the problem. There are also a number of ways in which consumers are being swindled by these new-age cheats. If you bought a water purifier recently, for example, then this could well happen to you. In all likelihood, someone may call, pretending to be from the company that manufactured the purifier, offering to come and check out your system. A couple of ‘friendly visits’ later, you are advised to take an after-sales service contract for three years. Or else, you will end up spending huge amounts of money on visiting charges and replacement of parts, you are told. The explanation is so convincing that you will end up paying for the contract. Once the money is paid, you will never hear of this service centre again — all their phones go unresponsive. That’s when you call the company and learn that they have never heard of this service centre. However, it is obvious that someone in that company is supplying the names of customers to the fraudsters. Another name of the game is ‘personal grooming services’. Here, women are offered an annual subscription to a spa or a beauty salon at a discounted rate. In some cases, well-known beauty salons and spas are mentioned in the receipt, but when you visit the place, you are told that no such subscription scheme was ever operated by them! In some cases, the beauty parlours close down even before your subscription begins! Then, there are those offering ‘24/7 on-road car servicing’ with a 24/7 emergency helpline, for an annual subscription of Rs 750! Take it up and that’s the last you will hear of the agency. One can go on listing such con games, but for want of space, I will end here, with a note of warning. Look at all these offers with lot of suspicion and scepticism and do not fall prey to such gimmicks.
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IF all those e-mails
that I get at regular intervals, declaring me to be a winner of a huge
cash bonanza, were really true, I would be rolling in money today.
After all, the prizes are never less than a million dollars!
Strangely, they all manage to evade the spam filter somehow, despite
my refusing to open them and marking them out as spam!
Then, there are those
so-called employment agencies that promise lucrative jobs, collect
hefty sums towards "fee for services to be rendered" and
even issue a letter of employment. The victim gets to know of the
fraud only when he reports on duty. Similarly there are all those
e-mails exhorting the recipient to "earn handsome sums while
sitting at home". All you need is a computer and an internet
connection and you can earn substantial sums, they promise. Here
again, once the victim is drawn into the trap, the mail suggests the
victim to transfer a certain amount of money into a bank account as a
one-time ‘service charge’. Many unemployed youth and housewives
have lost their hard-money to such schemes.