Half way into the year, the Kochi City police have already registered around 400 cases related to online fraud stripping victims of around ₹25 crore.
Four such cases, accounting for nearly ₹22 crore, of cheating four high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) were reported in the last couple of months at Infopark, Maradu, Ernakulam Town North, and Ernakulam Central police stations. The accused in these cases, in which money was found diverted to multiple accounts outside the State, are yet to be arrested.
“We have formed special squads to investigate the cases. It is not easy to track down the accused, mostly from north and eastern India, who use fake IDs and SIM cards in other names and even operate third party bank accounts,” said S. Syamsundar, District Police Chief (Kochi City).
In the case registered by the Infopark police, an IT firm owner fell for the offer of exorbitant profit through currency trading while searching for ways to transfer funds directly to the U.S. He lost ₹6.93 crore, but reported it only after three months.
In the case registered by the Ernakulam Town North police, the complainant lost ₹5.16 crore after being duped by a person claiming to be a Mumbai police officer who threatened him with an arrest warrant for money laundering. The complainant, who was told that drugs had been seized from a courier in his name, was asked to transfer the entire amount in his bank account to specific accounts on the pretext of verifying his financial credentials.
“Impersonating as enforcement officials through Skype calls with the backdrop of stage-managed filmy sets akin to the offices of enforcement agencies has become widely used modus operandi in online fraud. No government agency asks for transferring funds for verification. However, the biggest red flag is the demand to transfer funds to individuals’ savings bank accounts, a practice followed neither by government agencies nor private firms,” said Mr. Syamsundar.
A similar ploy was allegedly used in the case registered by the Maradu police to dupe a person of ₹5.99 crore where he was threatened by a man impersonating as an official of the Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. He transferred the money to 10 different accounts. Another person lost ₹3.37 crore after falling for the offer of profit through social media trading.
The city police have so far reclaimed around ₹1 crore, while claims for around ₹3 crore are pending. Reporting online frauds within two hours at the nation-wide helpline number of 1930 enables enforcement agencies to freeze the accounts concerned with a greater probability of recovering the entire amount.
“Fraudsters buying the operational rights of the bank accounts of third parties or even the deceased maintained mostly with private banks has also been noticed. In such cases, we suspect the culpability of bank officials. Huge transactions through such accounts should normally alert them,” said Mr. Syamsundar.
The State Police have organised awareness campaigns targeting HNWIs. Short awareness videos and messages through social media handles of the police are also being done against the threat of online fraud.
