13 July,2020 04:35 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
This picture has been used for representation purpose
The pandemic teaches us to be inventive. This seems to be good, as people rejig some aspects of their lives, like spending more time with their family or reassessing their lifestyle choices.
On a darker note, it has given conmen the opportunity to rejig their deceitful designs - they are now tailoring their schemes in sync with the happenings and the changed atmosphere around us.
The cyber cell has warned against rising cybercrime, as more and more people pay through digital means or do all their financial transactions online. This opinion piece has pointed out earlier, to pay heed to these warnings.
In another instance reported in this paper, a man was conned of approximately Rs 1 lakh, by scamsters who used the Galwan Valley clash between India and China as a ruse. The charlatan managed to get this money out of an individual who thought he was paying for special glasses for the Indian Army soldiers posted on the border.
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These scams are offshoots of the Nigerian fraud or scam, where criminals use current context and present-day situations to trick people and make them reveal bank details, address and debit card details only to vanish with the sum.
Sometimes, international problems such as the war in Sierra Leone or Congo, even civil strife in Libya, are used as a front. The conman usually starts with him or her coming into a large sum of money and wanting to escape a dictatorship. They say they would like to share the amount with you, and gradually make you reveal your identity.
Galwan Valley, COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic-specific cons - these are local twists on this pattern. Watch out for them, learn to identify the pattern, and when you smell the proverbial rat, stay away.
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