Digital Fraud Cases Now India’s New Crime Epidemic
Cyber fraud A Representative Image
Belagavi Elderly Couple Dies by Suicide Amid Digital Arrest Harassment
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 29: Drogjeron alias Diago Santan Nazareth (82) lived a reclusive life in Beedi village in Belagavi in Karnataka. He had retired from the services of the Maharashtra government.
He and his wife Flaviana (79) died by suicide. The police said that digital fraudsters had extracted ₹50 lakh from the elderly couple. They had been under “digital arrest” for a few months per reports.
The police claimed that the fraudsters were blackmailing the elderly couple for more money. The couple had already taken enough loans. In suicide note, Nazareth wished that his body be donated to a local medical institution for research.
Nazareth and Flaviana possibly became the first case of people dying by suicide after hounded by digital fraudsters. Cases of digital arrests have almost exploded.
Business of digital frauds has become the most lucrative in India. In three years alone, digital fraudsters have fleeced people of whopping ₹2500 crores.
The Belagavi couple faced harassments also for the fraudsters using their SIM cards, by cloning, for criminal activities. “The couple had transferred ₹50 lakh to different bank accounts. We are tracking the extent of transfers to fraudsters,” Belagavi superintendent of police Bheemashankar Guled told reporters.
Govt ‘Detachment’ Turns People into Esay Preys for Cyber Frauds
Some of the reported cases suggest that fraudsters are particularly targeting elderly citizens. The Belagavi couple lived alone. They had no children.
An analysis of victims’ accounts suggest that fraudsters had been tracking them. It also gives rise to suggestions that fraudsters are gathering intelligence through banking personnel.
Two weeks ago, the police raided a village in Deoghar in Jharkhand to catch hold of digital fraudsters. The police made a hasty retreat after a mob pelted stones at the police.
Proliferation of gangs of digital fraudsters at block levels across the country may not be ruled out. The modus operandi appears simple – opening bank accounts and SIM connections with stolen Aadhar documents, gathering intelligence at local levels through bank personnel, using IT tools to hide their locations, and exploiting fear factor to panic senior citizens.
In some cases, digital fraudsters even knew that victims had closed bank accounts after money had been withdrawn. They showed audacity to call victims to chastise for closing the bank accounts.
This is despite victims already lodging complaints with cyber police with full details. Also, the audacity of fraudsters is such that they even call from same mobile number which had been shared in police complaints.
Digital fraud cases multiplied three times in three years, from 2021 to 2024, per replies of the Ministry of Home Affairs in parliament. Fraudsters fleeced people with ₹91.4 crores in 2021. This blasted through roof to touch ₹1935.51 crores in 2024 per government statement in parliament.
A sense emerges that the people are now sitting ducks for digital fraudsters. This epidemic of digital frauds feast on telecom sector abandoning onus.
It also feasts on Aadhar records of the people made available to fraudsters. The personal data of the people appears to be just commodities traded for pennies.
Sadly, the government, both at the Centre and states, seems to suggest that the people have to fight lone battles against the fraudsters. Elderly citizens may be lacking in strength for such a battle.
(Note: Avoid picking up unknown numbers, don’t click links sent by unknown numbers, make complaints to 1935 immediately if a fraud calls, never share bank details with anyone, only frauds ask for OTPs and passwords, and may consider reverting to old ways of banking through cheque books and branch visits by saying a goodbye to digital banking)
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