Cyber conmen cast wider net, go multi-lingual
Hyderabad: Spreading their wings and seeking to prey on more gullible victims, cyber conmen these days have started going multi-lingual.
Basically operating from smaller cities and towns of northern and central States, these cyber conmen are now seeking to strike a chord with the victims by talking to them in Telugu also.
So far, they have been targetting the gullible with conversation in Hindi but according to the police, instances are getting reported of victims being approached by the cheats overcoming the language barrier and speaking in fluent Telugu. “These suspects are now found to be conning the victims by speaking in fluent Telugu and trapping them into giving details,” said an official.
Some persons who had lodged complaints about OTP fraud, had told the police that the callers had introduced themselves in Telugu and conned them.
“From this we understand that the offenders are trying to expand their activities to the rural areas,” said an official of Rachakonda Cybercrime. He further said that those who had previously stayed in the State might have joined the gangs for they are familiar with Telugu language.
The conmen from some parts of Bihar are known to dupe victims on pretext of lottery while the ones from Jharkhand are known for phishing calls. “Language is always a barrier for the conmen from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana and Rajasthan. They are familiar with Hindi language and often target victims who understand Hindi,” said KVM Prasad, ACP, Cyber Crime, Hyderabad.
The police point out many school drops or unemployed youth join the organized gangs of cyber criminals and learning the ‘craft’ of duping the people. For instance, in Jamtara only one person Vijay Kumar Mandal, who was later arrested, started making phishing calls and taught the craft to several youngsters who made it their regular job.
It is the reason why the cybercrime rate in north and central India is high compared to the southern parts. “In the southern states only those who understand Hindi or English are the victims and they are confined to the urban areas mostly. In north and central India, the rural areas also face the brunt,” another official explained.
Compared to Hyderabad (2,500 cases in year 2020) and Cyberabad (1500 cases in year 2020) cases of cybercrime in other districts of the State have been very less although there is no disparity in use of mobile phones and bank accounts in rural areas, police officials pointed out.
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