New Delhi: Not just international spam calls, scamsters have devised several methods to dupe WhatsApp users in India, especially scams like the popular ‘YouTube video’, where they lure them through WhatsApp and then send them to rivals. Chat apps take on Telegram and spoof them. hard-earned cash.
Although international spam calls have come down in the past few days, people are still losing money through spam text messages on WhatsApp, which has over 500 million users in the country.
A software engineer in Gurugram suffered a loss of over Rs 42 lakh after scammers duped him of huge earnings just for liking videos on YouTube, first through a WhatsApp message and then adding him to a Telegram group.
In April, with the arrest of four people, the Delhi Police claimed to have busted a gang of cyber crooks who duped over 500 people on the pretext of ‘online trading’ on a large scale across the country. The official said the gang members were linked to Chinese associates operating from Dubai.
A senior Delhi Police official told IANS that in the last six months, several cases of fraud involving Chinese cyber gangs using WhatsApp to hook up and lure people have come to the fore.
“They lure people on the pretext of small earnings just for ‘likes’ and then cheat them of their hard earned money from banks. Several Chinese gangs behind such rackets running across the country and money laundering through hawala channels have been identified Has been done.” the officer said.
According to the police, in her recent complaint, a woman said she was searching for a job online when she received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.
“The message contained an offer to pay Rs 50 per like for links to social media accounts sent to him through WhatsApp. He opened and liked various links sent by the caller. He sent the screen shot to the sender, Zarina.” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central, Sanjay Kumar Sain said.
Zarina asks him to open a telegram link to receive the credit amount.
The DCP said, “She joined the Telegram channel and Rs 150 was deposited in her bank account. Zarina then instructed her to join another Telegram channel and some YouTube videos, which she did and got Rs 200 in return.” Received.”
Later, Zarina convinces him to invest in crypto currency with the promise of significant profits. The woman initially invested Rs 1,000 and Zarina lured her with the prospect of even higher returns. However, the woman suffered a loss of around Rs 22 lakh in a single day and requested legal action against Zarina for her actions.
Delhi Police has recently busted an international gang of cyber thugs based in China, Dubai and mastermind based in Georgia who duped 11,000 people on the pretext of providing online work from home jobs in Amazon.
The gang cheated crores of rupees on the pretext of getting online jobs. Police have arrested three people in this connection by conducting separate raids in Delhi, Gurugram and Fatehabad (Haryana).
Investigations indicate that Chinese cyber criminals have developed a module to defraud people working online from home or looking for part-time jobs as Chinese loan frauds are now on the decline due to action by agencies and awareness among people. Is.
It turned out that the Telegram ID used by the scammers was being operated from Beijing and the WhatsApp number – used to dupe the victim by persuading him to invest in a fake Amazon site – operated from outside India was being done.
The police then wrote an email to the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) and Kotak Mahindra Bank, seeking beneficiary details of the suspicious transactions and learned that a shell firm account was used to collect money from the victims.
“During scrutiny of the details received from the bank, it was found that a total of Rs 5.17 crore was deposited in a single day. In further money trail, it was found that the entire amount was routed through seven different firms The DCP told that money has been misappropriated in foreign accounts through crypto currency.
In another modus operandi, the Delhi Police arrested eight people who duped people on the pretext of investments and online gaming. The gang used to contact the victims on WhatsApp and offered them to earn money through investments and online gaming.
“Thereafter, they add the victims to a Telegram group and represent that the other members of the group are making good profits in a short span of time. The victim falls into their trap and transfers money as per their instructions and loses their vehicle.” Loses earnings.” said the officer
The gang also used to lure the victims to earn money through online gaming.
“They send them a link to their website to play the game. If a person wins, when the victim asks for money, they give him coins in their account in lieu of money, after which they respond,” the official said. stop giving.”
Meta-owned WhatsApp last week took action on the growing threat of international scam calls in India after the government announced taking cognizance of the issue and sending a notice to the platform on the issue.
A company spokesperson said, “Our new enforcement will reduce the current calling rate by at least 50 percent and we expect to be able to effectively handle the current incidents. We are committed to providing a secure experience for our users. Will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that.” a statement.
WhatsApp this week launched a security campaign ‘Stay Secure with WhatsApp’ in an effort to raise awareness about its existing security tools and product features.