16 in Ghaziabad fell prey to cyberfraud daily this year

GHAZIABAD: Cases of cybercrime are on the rise in Ghaziabad, where 16 people have been targeted by fraudsters on an average daily between January and June this year. Most of the frauds, police said, are committed on the pretext of renewing insurance policies, issuing of credit cards and other bank documents, and job offers in foreign countries.
According to data available with police, 2,850 people were cheated online between January and June this year. During the same period in 2020, 1,830 people were victims of cybercrime. The people defrauded this year lost Rs 4.5 crore in total. The recovery rate was quite minimal. Only 54 victims got back their money, amounting to Rs 25.7 lakh.
A senior police officer said since more people had started transacting online during the lockdowns, it had given an opportunity to cyber frauds to cash in on the situation. During last year’s lockdown — March to May — 922 people were cheated online, up from 759 cyber cases reported during the same period in 2019. This year, however, the number of cases shot up to 1,467.
The number of people cheated with job offers more than doubled from 11 to 23 during the lockdown months in 2020 and 2021. Most of the frauds were related to banks. Between January and June last year, 346 such cases were reported, which went up to 746 this year. In 2019, only 192 people had been cheated with bank and credit card offers.
Four major gangs with different modus operandi are under the police’s scanner for cyber frauds.
Mewati gang
The gang gets its name because most of the frauds committed by them can be traced to the Haryana district. They usually place ads online and introduce themselves as retired Armymen to people who contact them. If anyone shows interest in buying a product, they send the prospective buyer a QR code to make the payment. Once the victim scans the code or clicks on a link sent to them, it gives the gang access to the bank accounts linked to the portal on which they had placed the ad. The gang members then withdraw all the money and go incommunicado.
Jamtara gang
This sleepy Jharkhand town made it to the national crime map after a series of cyber frauds over the past few years was traced to Jamtara. Such was the notoriety of Jamtara that it formed the backdrop of a Netflix series. Earlier, the gang would follow a simple modus operandi of extracting the bank details from their targets over the phone.
Since people are more aware of it now, they make fraud calls with offers to renew insurance policies. The gang members introduce themselves as representatives of insurance firms and tell their targets that their policies are about to expire. They then offer lucrative discounts on renewing the policies. The victims are asked to send photos of their bank passbook and Aadhaar card through WhatsApp or email. Once the fraudsters receive the documents, the targets are told to share an OTP they receive on their phones. The OTP gives the cons access to the account and the money there is transferred
Pratapgarh gang
This gang usually clones debit cards by installing skimming devices in ATMs. The members are found around ATM kiosks that do not have guards and offer to help people who find it difficult to withdraw the money. They then replace the original cards with duplicate ones. The gang also installs skimming devices in the machines. The devices copy the card details, which are used to steal the money from accounts
Nigerian gang
This gang usually sends out emails offering jobs in foreign countries. When a person replies to the mail, a gang member calls him/her and schedules an interview. The person taking the interview is usually someone with a British or American accent. The victims are then asked to make some payment in the name of visa processing fees. After the money is paid, the gang members go incommunicado.
‘Raise awareness’
Abhay Mishra, the cyber cell in-charge, said they had busted around 20 bogus call centres and arrested 75 people over the past few months.
He, however, said that raising awareness among people was the best way to tackle cybercrime. "People should never give out their bank details to anyone over the phone. No one should click on any anonymous links or ads that come via messages or mails. They should not trust strangers talking to them about insurance policies," Mishra added.
"When people make purchases using their debit or credit cards, they should keep an eye on the store employees to whom they have handed the cards. They should steer clear of swiping cards at any place that doesn’t seem reliable," the officer said.