“Megs, there’s something I need to tell you”.
“Yes Sam “.
“Megs I’ve fallen in love with you. I want to live with you in India”.
“Are you serious?“ Megha was stunned!
“Yes dear. Please look for a suitable place for me in India. I’d like to settle
down in India with you. My budget is GBP 200,000/-“
It had started with a simple friend request on a social networking site from Sam Newton.
Megha generally did not accept friend requests from unknown persons. However, the engaging smile in the profile, had made her hesitate before rejecting the request of the soldier in uniform.
She had accepted the request. There were several pictures on his page. One with his daughter about 7 years of age, brown eyes, sweet innocent smile.
“Hullo there!” her messenger beeped, and she saw it was a message from
Sam. “How are you doing?” Megha responded “I’m doing great!”.
What had started off with a greeting went on to become more intense and serious as Megha and Sam continued chatting with each other, She would leave a good morning message for him when she woke up and he would reply to
it by noon. They messaged often and more so at night when they were both back home,
each sharing their day‟s activities, she from Mumbai and he from London. This went on for almost two months. Megha shared pictures of her family, her parents, her friends. Sam told her about Naomi, his wife who had
passed away due to cancer four years ago. Coming out of her thoughts, Megha said
“Sam, let me search for a suitable place for you”. “It’s for us honey,” said Sam.
Megha spoke to friends, looked for options and decided Goa would be the best option. Goa with its red earth, peaceful beaches, swaying palms, and idyllic lifestyle would be the perfect place. Megha had seen so many foreigners there.
“Sam I’ve identified a few options for Goa. When you come to India, you
can see them and finalise. However, foreigners aren’t allowed to buy
property in India so we will have to figure a way out of it.”
“Megs honey. I cannot wait to meet you. I’m travelling to India on 1st
December’19. Please send me your bank details to transfer the money for
the house to your account.”
Megs had heard of scams and how bank details could be misused for fraudulent transfers. As a precaution, she provided details of an account which she rarely used. The day the money was to come in, Megha received a call from Delhi from a lady claiming to be calling from Reserve Bank. The lady verified her bank details and said a draft for GBP 200,000/- had come in her name. However, she said that Megha needed to pay the conversion charges for the draft.
“How much is that?”
“Rs 21000/- “ the lady answered.“Can that not be deducted from the amount sent?” asked Megha.
“No Ma’am it has to be deposited in a bank account before the transfer.”
“Ok please forward me the details” said Megha.
A few minutes later Megha received a text message on her phone with a name “Rohit Kumar, XXX Bank. Saving A/c number 10000012345 branch Palika Bazar, New Delhi”. The woman called her back and persisted that once she had deposited Rs21000/- in the account, the money from the draft would be transferred to her account in an hour‟s time. Megha went to the branch of the bank which was nearby and inquired about the account. She was told it belonged to a person living in Guwahati. Suspicious that she was being made a victim of a fraud, she refused. The woman from Delhi called her again and asked if the money had been deposited. When Megha informed her that she hadn’t she abused her. Later she spoke to Sam. He insisted that his manager had said that paying the conversion charges was necessary.
“Honey do not disappoint me. I have risked GBP 200,000 for you, and you cannot risk 210 pounds for getting the money to your account?”
“Sam dear this is not the way foreign remittances are handled.”
Megha remembered they argued over this and then Sam had disconnected the phone. That was the last she had heard from him. Cybercrime was going up and this was one of the ways of luring people to part with their money. The modus operandi was to build relationships, create trust and then demand money. Megha had almost been a victim. This kind of fraud or scam is called as Advance Fee fraud. The modus operandi is the same – A request for a small amount of money is made in exchange of a promise of a large amount of money. The scammer may sometimes say- he is sending you gifts maybe a gold chain, a watch, a laptop etc.
He will send you a picture of the packed consignment and then ask for your address. This is just to build confidence in you that the gifts have been packed and have been shipped out. You are then expecting the parcel to reach you. Sure enough, a few days later you get a call that a parcel has come for you and is stuck in the customs. You have to pay custom duty without which parcel cannot be released. The person promises you that after the customs duty is paid, you will receive the parcel. Once you deposit the money- you never hear back from the person again. Same modus operandi- payment of a small amount in the promise of a gift of a larger value. Let us look at another story from my friend Sneha, a fairly successful professional, a widow age 55years. I am relating it in her words.
“He sent me a friend request on social media. He had an innocent looking
face. He was young -maybe 31 or so. He shared multiple pictures of
himself with her on chat. He said in the past he had worked in a bank and
been a VJ on a Music channel on TV. He was a great singer.
He was now handling a family business of mining and lived in Jaipur. He
mentioned, he liked doing charity work for a small NGO which worked
with tribal women.” Sneha said “I have seen him on the video chat. He
looks like his pictures. Really handsome and very charming. I like him a
lot”.
“Once he told me – I am planning to get 2 of the tribal girls connected to the
NGO married and we need to give them a wedding gift.
On behalf of us, I have committed Rs 21,000 as a wedding gift. You pay
Rs 11,000 and I will pay the balance. So, I said Sorry I cannot pay
11,000, maybe I can pay 5000. However, I kept thinking- everything that I
know about this charitable cause is through this person.
What if he is lying? How do I know he is telling me the truth? Two days
later, he called me saying- Could you transfer the money? I said, “No, I’ve
changed my mind. I don’t want to do it.” He started arguing and insisted
“you’ve committed so you have to pay”. He kept calling me repeatedly. I
blocked his calls and blocked him on social media.”
Sneha did not know but she was almost a victim of catfishing.
In catfishing, the scammer may use the name of a real person but post his own photographs. He gets close, very quickly and may try to lure the woman into intimate chats. Then requests for money come in. The reasons could be personal hardship, for e.g., for a sick relative or family member, or his business is failing or for a charitable cause. Scrutinize any online relationship that develops too fast. Never get into intimate chats as they can be used against you to blackmail. Never give money to someone unless you have a relationship with them offline. If you do decide to meet them in person, inform your family, and meet them in a public place. Check out their professional profile and do an online search for their profile. Aditi received a friend request on social media from Jyoti, a woman staying in Delhi. She was probably a housewife. After a few minutes of Aditi accepting the request, Jyoti wanted to have a video chat with her. Aditi wondered why. Jyoti convinced her that she just wanted to see her since she was a new friend.
Thinking it would be ok, she accepted the video call. At the other end, she saw a man trying to show off his genitals. Disgusted Aditi cut the call and blocked Jyoti. Friends, in the cyber world, you never know who is the person on the other side. Do not reveal too much information about yourself. Ensure your settings are secure and what can be seen is restricted to your friends. Be careful. Check out the person‟s professional profile and his page. Be cautious before you accept that friend request on social media. In case something does not seem right, just unfriend and block the person.
Your safety is your priority.
