Cyber criminals thrive in India’s IT capital

Cyber criminals seem to be thriving in India’s IT capital; in the last four months alone, Bengalureans lost Rs 32 crore to various online scams. A 39-year-old woman was the biggest victim—a fraudulent suitor who befriended her through a matrimonial website made away with Rs 33 lakh.

The cybercrime police station of the Bengaluru city police has recorded a staggering 3,180 cases in four months since mid-January.

Last year, Sumathi (name changed) from Jayanagar had registered with a well-known marriage portal to find a match. Little did she know that the prince charming who approached her as a UK-based Indian doctor expressing interest to settle down with her in Bengaluru was an online imposter. He got her into parting her hard-earned money through numerous online transfers.

“She was lured by an exciting gift packet the man claimed to have sent from the UK. Then came the false excuse of Indian customs officials seizing the gift for duty. She fell for it and transferred lakhs of rupees, trusting the man who trapped her with sweet words and promise of marriage in a brief period,” said an officer.

Rise in matrimonial fraud

Sumathi is one among the many victims of online imposters who’ve siphoned off Rs 32 crore since February through various techniques—credit card skimming, vishing, phishing, e-wallet scam, online car sales con, Facebook fraud, airline ticketing trickery and an array of other Nigerian scams. Matrimonial frauds topped the charts in the four months with hundreds of women being targeted by crooks, mainly through paid portals and Facebook messenger.

“Every day, we register close to 40 FIRs regarding bank frauds, including phishing, vishing and illegal money withdrawal from accounts through ATMs. People still fall prey to lottery fraud, the oldest trick in the trade,” said an officer. He said the cybercrime wing register nearly 1,000 FIRs a month.

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