Hyderabad: Cyber cons are targeting people through matrimonial websites. Several people from Hyderabad, mostly women, have fallen prey to these frauds and have lost money. The cyber crime departments of Cyberabad and Hyderabad police have received over 35 complaints in the last five months. There are many cases that go unreported, say sources.
The crooks got in touch with the victims through matrimonial websites seeking alliances. A few take money in the name of buying properties for their future while others use techniques like that of Nigerian fraudsters.
In a recent case, a Kolkata man working in a tax firm in Mumbai duped a Hyderabadi woman of Rs 5.2 lakh. Tanmay Goswami, 40, duped the victim through bharatmatrimony.com.
He told her that he was a deputy commissioner with the Central Board of Direct Tax in Bengaluru and promised to marry her. He persuaded her to buy a flat in Bengaluru and asked her to send money.
She deposited Rs 5.2 lakh and from then on he stopped responding to her calls. Hyderabad Cyber Crime police arrested Goswami on Wednesday. In two other cases investigated by Cyberabad Cyber Crime officials, the modus operandi were different. “After getting close to the victims the crooks used the technique of Nigerians. They convinced the victims that they were NRIs looking to get married. Later, they informed the victims that they were sending jewellery and diamonds to India for them. Their aides then called the victims pretending to be customs officers and told them that a package had arrived for them at Delhi airport and they needed to pay various charges to release the package. The victims realised that they had been conned when they lost their money,” said Cyberabad cyber crime inspector Md. Riyazuddin.
In some cases, men too have fallen prey. Last year, Ms D. Malavika, 35, from Begumpet had created a fake profile on bharatmatrimony.com and duped at least four men. She took lakhs from them before being arrested. She used to pretend to be a doctor settled in the US and told the victims that she was in the city to claim her assets. The victims, including an NRI techie, transferred lakhs to her account as she requested help with “litigation.” Police say there could also be unreported cases in which victims did not approach the police fearing blackmail using photos of the victims or that of intimate moments they had with cheats.
Elderly women watch out
Investigators of matrimony fraud cases say that the cheats usually target middle-aged women
The victims are divorcees, widows or unmarried women in their 30s and 40s. The scamsters pretend to be younger than the victims and claim to be MNC employees or NRIs
The fraudsters give emotional support to the victims, and send gifts to impress them. Single women, who do not have elders to verify or check the background of prospective grooms they meet online, might get persuaded
A fraudster claimed he was younger and was ready to marry the victim, who had a child from a previous marriage. His only intention was to extract money
In detected cases of matrimonial frauds, the suspects were involved in various other cyber crimes too
Single mothers and single women in their middle-age are the most vulnerable. “In over 20 cases we dealt with this year, a majority of the victims were either middle-aged single women or recent divorcees,” said Cyberabad Cyber Crime inspector Md. Riyazuddin
Don’ts
Be in a hurry to get married to someone you meet online. It is very important to go slow
Get involved in a courtship which involves ‘sexting’ (sending sexual messages) or webcam chatting with the online match
Transfer money in any circumstance before finding out if the person is bonafide
Dos
Conduct thorough background checks.
Verify educational certificates
Check with the police if the person has a criminal background
It is a must to visit the person at his/her home in the company of his/her parents/ relatives not once but at least a number of times. Invite the person over to your family home as well
Websites leave it to users
Even the biggest websites do not have policies to perform background checks of profile posters. “The terms and condition” posted by the websites state that it is the responsibilities of users. Police thus say it’s not possible to take action against websites since due to this. Police says that none of the matrimonial websites has methods to verify the authenticity of an account-holder.
Most matrimonial websites have included these sentences in their terms and conditions: “The website is not responsible for any illegal act done by any third party relating to or connected with any information submitted by you or on your behalf, or any cybercrime attempted or committed by anyone.” In matrimonial fraud, police book cases for cheating, extortion, and breach of trust.
