As an internet user in India, I am profoundly concerned about the increasing incidence of online scams, which cause huge money losses and emotional pain for innocent persons.
This concerning development raises serious concerns and underscores the critical need for increased awareness and aggressive steps to protect against these fraudulent activities. In recent talks with around 100 internet fraud victims, I discovered that they together lost over 2.5 crore rupees to crooks.
The scam usually begins with a message from scammers pretending to be HR representatives from well-known companies. They lure victims by asking them to like and follow social media accounts and YouTube videos, and even send them money to gain their trust. Victims are then led to believe that they are involved in a legitimate business as the scammers give them daily payments to their accounts.
However, the scam takes a sinister turn when the scammers add the victims to a Telegram group where they create fake, sophisticated, and original-looking crypto trading platforms. They ask victims to send them money and perform certain tasks to multiply their investment. To further deceive victims, the scammers create fake virtual wallets to make them believe that their money is safe and secure.
Tragically, victims often find themselves trapped in this scheme, sending money on a daily basis and sometimes losing their life savings. Some victims have even borrowed money from friends, only to fall victim to the scam and lose it all. Despite filing complaints, they are yet to see any resolution or recovery of their funds.
One of the perplexing questions victims have is how scammers are able to open bank accounts in reputable banks and register them as companies. They are also puzzled by the fact that banks do not freeze fraudulent accounts when they notice big and unusual transactions. Scammers take advantage of privacy features on platforms like Telegram, where they can communicate in groups without revealing their phone numbers, and they often delete all their chats and account information, making it challenging to track them down.