Dear Friends hope you have completed
both doses of vaccination if not please complete the same in this year itself so
as we can stay COVID free in 2022
My apologies for taking a little longer to
publish a new blog, due to some commitment could not manage for some time but
yes will bounce back with something big shortly. Now the question is what to offer today? Till now I have been spreading awareness about wildlife but today thought to spread awareness about online fraud which I recently experienced so that my readers don't fall into the trap of such fraud attempts
Recently I came across a very scary
incident and hence thought to publish it on a public platform to save others from
such incident, let me directly get into the details, please read each line so
as you understand the modus operandi and save yourself from a possible attempt in future
Exchange Online
Let me begin with what I have gone through and
how I manage to escape from it then I will put my thoughts on other aspects of
this topic
So let me start the story – Last Sunday
I decided to sell old furniture, initially, I had contacted a secondhand dealer near
my house, his offer was not lucrative so I thought to try online portal to get
better price hence I opted for one of the famous portals for online buying and
selling
The process to activate an account and upload free
advertisement is very easy (Even fraudsters can get in easily with dummy details); with
either email or mobile, you can quickly login into it
Upon login it allowed me to upload one
free advertisement so I uploaded pictures and quoted Rs. Five thousand for the dining table.
Within a minute started getting calls for an inquiry, it looked a little strange to me but thought dealers remain active and may approach early than individuals. This was my first experience of offering online and had no idea of such an ill motive of someone
The person called me on WhatsApp,
introduced himself as Amit Kumar (9394160716), and said he is a resident of
Bhiwandi and is a dealer of second-hand furniture and he is interested in my offer
He also asked if I have more furniture
to offer, I shared pictures of other furniture as well and I asked for a total
quote of Nineteen Thousand cash. He agreed immediately without any single rupee bargain,
this created some bit of doubt in my mind hence I ask him only for cash
The fraudster insisted on half online transfer and balance
as cash when he will arrange pickup, I agreed to 50% online transfer and
balance later. He said he will transfer on PAYTM/GPAY etc and I said I am ok
with PAYTM
Now see the modus
operandi – He thought he got a fish in the net
He said to continue on WhatsApp and
scan the QR code sent by him, the moment I scanned the App showed the “PAY” button. This
I noticed and denied to act further. I said why it shows pay?. It should
directly transfer money and should not ask anything. Mr. fraudster said he is transferring
using a machine at his end and hence it requires action from my end, he added
that money from his end is already processed and will be credited to my account only if I submit the same from my app
I told him just scrap the deal this is
not correct, to gain my trust he said let me transfer Rs.2 after that I should
follow the same process to get the credit of ten thousand
This time I got a QR code of Rs. 2, I scanned that and again noticed that App showed the “PAY” button, I did not click any button still Rs. 2 got credited to my wallet. this was enough to gain trust, now he
started insisting and pushing me to follow this process for initiating ten thousand
He thought I am trapped, now he asked me to scan a QR code of ten thousand, he said Sir now you know the procedure, please go ahead for 10k, on
scanning the app lead to the “PAY” button, now I was very sure that something is surely wrong, I refused to enter anything; I told it
is fraud because for receiving the money no action required then why the app is diverting me to PAY? I told him that I don't want to go ahead and let's cancel the same
When I refused, he started shouting that 10k is
debited from his account hence I have to complete the transaction and proceed further. He
threatened me with a police complaint and said give me 10k back. He immediately removed
QR codes from WhatsApp when I offered him to approach the police station together. I
was vigilant on the usage of my wallet hence could manage to escape else for sure I could
have made a loss of 10k
Let me ask you a question, why Rs. 2 was credited
to the wallet but not 10k? For both amounts process was absolutely the same. The point to be noted here is that he actually transferred Rs. 2 directly from another mobile number which was without any QR code, I realized this when I checked the details of credit in my wallet. Such as a smart way to gain the trust and trap immediately
In just a matter of 5 minutes, 10k would have gone,
we need to be extra cautious when we use digital platforms for any dealing. Especially
when such platforms are not strong in terms of verification and don’t provide
any service, it is just an open platform where anyone can easily enter and take
advantage of the lack of security
The intention is not to blame any specific
platform or blame the digital world, just wanted to share details of incidents that happened and
to spread awareness. The digital platform has its own advantage but for that, we
have to be vigilant. Flexibility comes with the risk of fraud hence be extra careful when
you enter into any such dealings
In the next section let me help you with
points we need to take care of while dealing on digital platform
Chain se Sona hai toh Jaag Jao
1. Check how strong these digital platforms are. For example, by just providing an email id allowing us to use the platform freely, the risk is high
2. If portals are free with basic or no verification, the risk is high
3. If a person is approaching immediately and accepting everything at one go, the risk is high
4. Don’t scan QR code
5. Don’t entre or provide CVV or password, for receiving money these details are not required, this is for sure fraud
6. Fraudsters most of the time use WhatsApp calling and use free WIFI available at places like stations so ignore if you receive calls from WhatsApp
7. Ask for providing complete details from the dealer, if they are not providing you name, address or registration number, etc, it is fraud for sure
8. Don’t share bank details, credit/Debit card details, if it is asked, it is a fraud
9. Spread awareness if you notice any such incident
In the end, let me summarize, digital
platforms have their own limitation, verification may depend on the business model
and many other aspects. We need to be vigilant and cautious while dealing with the online world. If you come across any kind of fraud then please spread
awareness so as we can save others from the fraudsters
Request you share feedback on btwildart@gmail.om
9
