Cyber space connects people in the virtual world, but it also has its perils and pitfalls and one should always be wary of hidden dangers. more-in A couple of weeks back a young divorced woman was duped by a person through an online matrimonial site. The woman was divorced and looking for a partner through online sites. Considering this to be her vulnerability, a person who claimed to be a fashion designer from USA sweet-talked her to friendship and slowly moulded her mindset to part with about ? 24 lakh. In another incident a young widow was duped to the tune of ? 60 lakh, by a person who claimed to a surgeon in UK. Both the profiles that were uploaded into the site were fake ones and the police are clueless about their whereabouts. In the last two years, there were at least 10 such incidents that were reported at the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) and in most of the cases, the victims were young widows or divorcees. “Normally, women in such condition are a bit depressed and are gullible to sweet talk. And this is taken as an advantage by the fraudsters,” said Prof. NN Raju, former HoD of Government Institute of Mental Health. According to the police, the fraudsters create fake profiles on matrimonial websites posing as software professionals or doctors or marketing professionals, settled in a foreign country, and target women who are looking for a second marriage. Talking about modus operandi of the fraudsters, Inspector of CCIC V Gopinath said many widows and divorced women upload their profiles in popular matrimonial website for a second marriage. Luring with chat They establish trust and get close to the women through mails, online chats or at times by even through phone calls. They then propose marriage and cook up a story such as gifts or foreign exchange that they were bringing into the country were stopped at the airport by Customs and needs to be cleared and there is an urgent need of money. Some time they even say someone close in the family has fallen sick and they need some urgent money, which will be returned soon. “Taking the stories as fact, the women fall for the bait hook line and sinker and transfer the money to the fraudsters bank account through online. And there ends the story,” said Mr. Gopinath. But, cracking these cases and recovering the money is Herculean task. Sumit Bhattacharjee

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