Beware of These Online Cyber Crimes which Security Techs Can't Beat

Security solutions usually focus on unauthorised access to data, breaches and malware. However, a large number of online cyber crimes are happening by the criminals using a completely different method which does not require any hacking of passwords or data breaches, or use of malware. These cyber crimes operate on the simple principle of human psychology. It's not possible for the security techs to beat these cyber crimes, because they are not focused on these kinds of crimes.

What's worse is that these cyber crimes can't be curbed by the law, as they use legitimate methods.

In this article, we are presenting some real-life cases which led to the loss of money by the victims, while the security solutions and the law enforcement authorities could not do anything because these activities were not cases of data breaches or hacking.

The identities of victims have been kept confidential.

Case 1

The victim wanted to apply for loan for buying a house. Unfortunately, the bank loans are too rigid in their rules and very difficult to get. The private loaning agencies imply very high interest rate. Hence, the victim was searching online for a low-interest home loan agency. He thought he found such an agency, which seemed to ask for very little information and claimed to provide the loan immediately at very low interest rate. The victim expressed the desire to get loan. He was asked to submit his bank statement along with Aadhar card and PAN card, which he did. They asked him to pay a nominal amount for processing the application, which was a very small amount, so the victim paid. After this, he was told that he should pay a substantial sum as security, which he was going to get back as refund  after the loan was sanctioned. He paid the security. After this, he was told to pay an even larger amount for getting the loan passed, which again he was going to get back once the loan was sanctioned. He paid it again. After this, he was asked to pay a third instalment to get the loan passed. This time he got suspicious and refused to pay. He said that if he was going to get this money back, then they should deduct the amount and pay him the balance. But they refused. They said without paying this amount the loan couldn't be passed and if he said he didn't want the loan then they'll cancel his application but he wouldn't get his money back as he had said he didn't want the loan. All this transaction was done via digital means and the victim had all the receipts. The so-called loaning agency representatives had given their Aadhar cards to him as proof.

However, they refused to give his money back and there was nothing he could do. This was because he had made the transactions himself, knowing fully well why he was making the transactions. Hence, the bank couldn't reverse his payments and the criminals couldn't be booked under the law as they had not made any data breaches or hacked any sensitive passwords. The victim had consented to the financial transactions. Further, most digital payment means don't have a system of reversing the payment unless the payment was done without the account holder's permission. In this case, the victim's permission was involved.

Case 2

The victim received a call from a person saying he was calling from Amazon and the victim was selected for a free gift by Amazon. The victim was asked to choose from a list of very expensive items such as high end laptop, smart TV, AC etc. The victim was supposed to make a purchase of a couple of thousands on the Amazon website as a part of the gift deal. The victim thought this was a golden chance to get a good gift from Amazon. He was asked to select his purchase on the Amazon website and show the photo of his selection to the person who called, after adding the purchase to the shopping cart on the Amazon website. He was told not to pay as he would get 50% discount on what he was purchasing. So he sent the photo of his purchase to the caller and asked for the 50% discount. The caller said that since this was a special gift offer, he should pay directly in the Amazon bank account rather than pay on the website. Once he made the payment, within 24 hours he would get 50% money back in his account. So, the victim sent the money to the account number given by the caller. After this, another person called saying he was from the Amazon Sales and marketing team and the purchase was approved. He will get 50% refund in his account and they were preparing the papers to send him his gift. He also took the address of the victim for this purpose. After a few minutes, the person called the victim again and said his gift papers were ready. But Amazon had got into a trouble with the government and the government had kept the transaction on hold. The victim was asked to pay the GST amount for the very expensive gift he had selected earlier. The victim refused to pay the GST amount and said he didn't want any gift and asked the caller to refund his money back. The caller said he was unable to give the money back as the money was kept on hold by the government. When the victim insisted, the caller asked him to go to the PayTm and he made him type a bank account no details. Then he asked him to type an OTP in the place where amount to be paid was to supposed to be mentioned. The OTP was in 5 digits and it showed as amount to paid. The victim understood that if he went through the whole process, the money from his account would be transferred to the caller. So he refused to go through the process. Then the caller threatened to send him a legal notice because he had got the money on hold by the government. The victim understood this was a scam and disconnected the call. He lost a few thousand rupees that he had transferred to the caller earlier.

In this case again, the victim had transferred the money willingly. There was no case of data breach or password hacking. Hence, the bank could not reverse the money transfer and the cyber crimes cell could not book a case against the caller. The caller had not given any address, so he could not be sued by Amazon for misrepresenting himself as an Amazon representative. 

Case 3

The victim got a WhatsApp message from a supposed agency which claimed to build and manage websites and do digital marketing all at very low prices. The agency also gave its address to the victim. The victim willingly paid the money for building a website, manage it and do social media marketing by the agency. After the money was transferred, the agency simply disappeared. The office of the agency could not be located at the address earlier given.

Case 4

The victim was looking for an item to buy online. In a little known website, the item seemed to be selling for a very low price. The victim paid the money towards the purchase of the item. On payment, he received an email that a particular person had received the money. However, the person's contacts and address were not mentioned. The item never arrived. The little known website didn't mention any office address or any phone number where they could be contacted.

In all the cases above, following points are to be noted - 

• The usual cyber crimes solutions are ineffective in such cases
• Law could not take any action because the money had been paid willingly
• In cases 1 and 2, the criminal had made use of phone calls and WhatsApp to communicate. There was no email communication and there was no personal contact
• In cases 1, 3 and 4, the websites were little known. In case 2, Amazon's name was cited, but the payment was not made on Amazon. The victim was asked to pay in a bank account which was supposedly linked to Amazon
• All transactions were digital and contactless

Going by these kinds of cyber crimes, it is important to note that the security solutions that are going around in the market are practically ineffective. The criminals are smarter than the approach of these solutions. They don't try to hack the password or go for data breaches in many cases. Rather, they try to convince the victim that they are offering genuine service and get the victim to pay willingly. Since there's no data breach or hacking and the victim pays willingly, the criminal never comes in contact with the victim, there's not much that can be done to book the criminal.

Precautions to Take for Such Cyber Crimes

• Never go for free gifts if there's a purchase linked to the gift - even if the offer has supposedly come from a well known company
• Never make a purchase online unless the website is very well known. And make purchases only on well known website. Do not go outside the website and send money to someone's bank account
• If the interest rates, cost of an item etc are very low and lucrative, it is most likely suspicious. If it looks too good to be true, most probably it is
• Before making any transactions on a website, check where the offices of the website are located. Also ascertain how the website representatives can be contacted if you need to contact them. If the mode of contact is a simple form with no address and phone number, most likely the website is suspect. If the website uses chatbots instead of humans to contact the customers, it is better not to trust the website
• Never give your Aadhar card and PAN card to anyone whom you don't know - it is not required by law and if anyone asks for these documents, most likely they are not honest
• Even if the merchant gives his Aadhar card, don't trust him. Aadhar card may be fake
• Before making a purchase, see if the same item is available at a reasonable price on another well known website or a local store
• Learn to live without many items in your life. Unless it is absolutely essential, do not spend your money. You don't have to spend and repent later. Don't make unnecessary purchases that you don't need
• Don't buy a house on loan with interest. Make enough money so that you can purchase a house without taking a loan. Live in a rented house till you have enough money
• If you must buy a house on loan, go to a well known bank, no matter what their rules and rates of interest

In short, hold on to your money as hard as you can. Do not spend unless absolutely required. And don't trust unknown people online. There are too many cyber crimes around and the solutions are nt enough to beat them.

Read more from Dr Archana Verma here 

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