Kochi: Despite awareness campaigns by authorities a number of people continue to fall victim to online frauds.
In the most recent example in a series of such instances a Mulanthuruthy native and a Pambakuda native lost around Rs 3.6 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, to online fraud last week. Thanks to the timely interference of the Ernakulam Rural police both the victims received almost all of their money back.
Police say from tested techniques like creation of duplicate Facebook profiles to con those in one’s contact lists to loan apps, the fraudsters employ several methods to dupe people online.
A source with the cyber police said online illegal loan apps have become a big menace and cautioned people to stay away from them at all costs. He said there are several such lending apps which give loans instantly.
“If you want a loan of Rs 5,000, they will credit around Rs 3,500 after cutting their fee and you have to pay it back in the stipulated time. When one installs the app, they get access to your contact list and gallery. If you’re late on payments, they will send vulgar messages about you to your contacts and try to blackmail you using pictures of your loved ones from your gallery,” said the officer. The officer added that the scammers even use the documents collected from the victims to open bank accounts in their name and use these accounts for duping others.
“While investigating an online fraud case, we found that the money was transferred to an e-wallet. It…
