KOZHIKODE: The days are gone when fraudsters lured one single person and swindled lakhs of rupees at one stretch. New generation fraudsters are smart enough to con more people at one go, maybe hundreds and thousands, with small amounts of money. The logic behind this new kind of fraud is that people would hardly complain after losing a comparatively small amount of money. City Police Commissioner J. Jayanath confirmed that such cases of online frauds are on the rise in the city especially due to the popularity of the Internet.
However, he said that only one in 10 such cases come to light, as the victims are hardly interested in proceeding with the complaint. The latest incident came out in the open, where more than 250 persons filed a petition against a couple in Nadakkavu police station, who allegedly conned them in the name of outsourcing work. The clients were asked to register with Rs 5,000 and after completing the digitalisation works of books by foreign authors, they would be paid the money back, along with another Rs 5,000.
The police suspect that only a portion of victims has turned up to lodge a complaint. The accused couple, who had opened an office in West Hill have not yet been traced. According to Sijo Kuruvila, founding CEO of Startup Village, Kochi, clients are not using the available reference mechanisms. “A simple search on Google would help them find any trustworthy articles leading to that agency or organisation. In all media, reference check plays a crucial role. We have to be on alert, when someone seeks money prior to assigning work, in the mode of registration fee,” said Mr Kuruvila.
