Cyber Crime Modus Operandi: Hemant Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police, says that cyber criminals commit crimes in the complex high-tech world, but most of the cyber criminals are not technology savvy. Rather, they are less educated but clever storytellers, who dupe innocent victims online with their smooth talk. Cyber criminals are inventing new methods of fraud and cheating every day.
DCP Hemant Tiwari of Delhi Police’s cyber crime unit told PTI that during the investigation, their detectives were successful in creating profiles of the victims and the accused. Which shows that the accused do not have any good educational background, but they are experts in telling stories to their victims. He said that none of them are engineering graduates, most of them are class 10 or class 12 pass. But the scammers gain the trust of the victims to such an extent that when the police or others warn them that they may become a victim, they go back to the scammer for advice.
Hemant Tiwari said that he remembers when his team had arrested an accused in a cyber fraud case. He was about to cheat an elderly woman from West Bengal. The police officer called her and told her that the person to whom she was going to send the money has been arrested. After this the police officer disconnected the call.
But the woman called the arrested man’s associates and told them that she had received a suspicious call and she wondered whether someone was duping her by claiming to be the police. The DCP said the victims are generally middle-aged men or women, who are looking for life partners on matrimonial sites, who are well educated, affluent and investment conscious.
According to the DCP, there are different categories of victims. People who are 50 or older, living alone and from a good economic background can become victims of digital arrest. In recent months, a new type of cyber fraud has emerged, so-called ‘digital arrest’, in which criminals impersonate law enforcement officials like CBI or Customs and force victims to voluntarily undergo house arrest, in what is called ‘digital arrest’. We do.
Not only this, they also monitor the ‘arrested’ person through video calls to ensure that the victim remains indoors and does not communicate with others, even family members, during the ‘investigation’. Do. Once the victim is completely under their control, the criminals ask for money. The excuses can be many: either the victim has received a parcel with prohibited goods, which has been confiscated by customs, or his bank account has been used for money laundering.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Tiwari said that cyber criminals first conduct their investigation by scanning the victim’s social media profile and other details available online. He said that victims of investment frauds are educated, come from good financial backgrounds and know about investment strategies. They often become victims of investment scheme scams.
According to Tiwari, at least 700 people are becoming victims of cyber fraud every day in the national capital Delhi alone and this number has increased significantly in the last 18 months, with most of the crimes being committed due to the ignorance, greed and fear of the victims. He said that apart from investment fraud and extortion, some people also become victims of “sextortion”. This happens when the caller claims to have accused the victim of child pornography and extorts money to hush up the case.
Delhi Police has investigated financial fraud worth more than Rs 500 crore so far this year. Tiwari said that cyber criminals are spreading their network across the country by opening bank accounts in one state and purchasing SIM from another state. Earlier, most of the cyber crimes were reported from Jamtara in Jharkhand or Mewat region of Haryana. Jamtara has become popular because of a series based on cyber criminals operating from there. But now other hotspots are also emerging.
The DCP said that his unit has identified more than 15 such areas. Tiwari said, “Mahakoshal region (Jabalpur) and Malwa region (Indore) in Madhya Pradesh and some areas of South India – these areas are the centers for opening bank accounts to commit such frauds.” Assam and West Bengal are the centers of purchasing SIMs in huge quantities for making calls.