Online fraud: Yet another resident taken for a ride

KOCHI: In yet another case that shows the gullibility/greed of our educated class, a 67-year-old retired central government officer was duped to the tune of Rs 1.69 crore after falling prey to a commonplace online fraud.
Though a city police team, led by south circle inspector G Venu and sub-inspector V Gopakumar, traced the racket behind the fraud to Mumbai, they failed to nab the accused who fled the city before the team could corner them.
The incident has shattered the victim, who has withdrawn into himself after two of his daughters distanced themselves from him enraged over the incident.
It was in June that Abraham Mathews of Kadavanthara became a victim of the email fraud which promised to pay him crores of rupees if he paid a certain processing fee. The victim deposited Rs 1.69 crore in 24 instalments into 24 bank accounts before he realized he was being taken for a ride and approached the police.
"The kingpin of the racket is a resident of Bihar. He operates from Mumbai. We camped for nearly 10 days in Mumbai and collected details of the racket. But we could not nab the accused," the inspector said.
The racket had used 24 bank accounts of a private new generation bank to collect the money deposited by the victim. "As per our probe, accounts have been opened with the bank's branches in Gujarat, Bihar and Maharastra. Accounts have been opened using fake addresses and we also suspect the involvement of the bank staff in the fraud," the officer said.
In spite of repeated incidents, people still become easy prey to such frauds. "We have been sensitising people to stay away from fraud lottery schemes which are offered through emails and SMSs. But some still fall for it hoping to make easy money," police officials said. In this case too, the victim never consulted his daughters or friends before depositing the money.
This is the second such incident in recent times in which a person lost crores of rupees to an online fraud.
A year ago, a 50-year-old person identified as K N Anil Kumar of Kalamassery lost all his earnings to a fraudulent scheme which promised 50% share from assets of a US-based Malayalee businessman who passed away in 2010.
Anil Kumar, a labourer working in a leading private sector company at Eloor, lost Rs 3.36 crore which he raised after selling his properties and borrowing money from all his relatives in a span of one year.
He raised Rs 3.36 crore in the period between October 2011 and May 2012 and transferred it to various bank accounts in Nagaland and Mumbai as directed by fraudsters. The police have failed to either arrest the culprits or recover the money.
Crorepati to bankruptcy
* In June, Abraham Mathews of Kadavanthara became a victim of the email fraud which promised to pay him crores of rupees if he paid a certain processing fee
* The victim deposited Rs 1.69 crore in 24 instalments into 24 bank accounts before he realized he was being taken for a ride
* The racket had used 24 bank accounts of a private new generation bank to collect the money deposited by the victim
* City police traced the racket to Mumbai, but failed to nab the culprits who fled the city before the team could corner them