Gullible accomplices

Bank frauds have become a major threat to the financial institutions especially gullible people after the advent of online and internet banking. One fraud still prevalent though perhaps not in the degree recorded some years back is of selling or auctioning of bank accounts which has been widely noted in Dimapur. The modus operandi is to open a bank account and then surrender them to fraudsters on promise of getting anywhere between Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000 deposited in the account. Public have been time and again cautioned against surrendering their accounts to fraudsters for cash deposited in their accounts. After the Personal Identify Number (PIN) in the debit card is generated through the registered mobile number provided in the bank application form, the conmen then destroy the SIM card. It is suspected that the conmen, reportedly from north India and mostly from New Delhi, pose either as bank officials or as agents of some companies etc. The conmen used the bank accounts opened in Dimapur, for receiving money from other victims who deposited huge sums to earn money through various attractive schemes including commission for getting job placements. Once money has been deposited into the accounts, the conmen siphon the money and then freeze the accounts. Police have disclosed that the conmen do a disappearing act after siphoning or laundering cash and leaving the original account holder in deep trouble. Police have lodged several FIRs and interestingly one bank in Dimapur recorded over 80% fraudulent accounts opened mostly by gullible women or housewives. Another widely practised online fraud is to dial a particular mobile number to warn the person that his or her credit/debit card has been blocked due to some technical problem. Claiming to be officials of a particular bank, the caller/fraudster would ask for confirmation of the card and PIN number to un-block the card. Once the PIN number is given, the fraudster(s) would empty the account and transfer the money to another account. Even after continuous warnings by banks through the media, there are still many gullible victims waiting to be fleeced. The advent of internet and online banking has also increased cyber crimes such as phishing, credit cart frauds, creation of Trojan viruses for distribution to websites and emails in order to obtain the desired personal bank and financial information. The advent of internet and online banking has also increased cyber crimes such as phishing, credit cart frauds, creation of Trojan viruses for distribution to websites and emails in order to obtain the desired personal bank and financial information. There are also some who have ingeniously launched ‘Salami attacks’ or inserting a programme into a bank’s server in order to deduct an insignificant amount such as Rs.5 from the bank accounts of customers every month. Another common online banking fraud is phishing by which a bogus website is created to direct the user to update personal information such as credit cards, passwords, Aadhar and PAN cards. These would then be used to siphon money from the accounts. This fraud of selling bank accounts appears to be quite widespread and some measures have to be put in place to tackle the crime.