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Internet Fraudster Duped Indian Woman

35 years old Radha Nair (name changed), a government employee residing in Coimbatore (India), has recently fallen victim to Internet fraudsters. The incident started with an e-mail from an unknown person claiming to be Senior Officer of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The fake RBI official congratulated her for winning an international lottery worth $500,000 (Rs 2.3 Crore).

Nair was told that she need to give her personal account details to transfer the lottery money and need to pay small amount of upfront sundry and administrative fee. Nair got easily convinced with the ploy, revealed her personal account details and made payment for administration processes. She later on realized that she had been robbed of Rs 6.5 Lakh.

Nair said that she had made a promise with herself to personally visit the bank in order to withdraw money by signing cheque leaf, as reported by hindustantimes on July 11, 2010.

Unfortunately, Nair is not the only person duped by cyber criminals. In the last four years, similar incidences of bank frauds have increased manifolds.

During January 2006-September 2009, there were 1,436 cases reported of fraudulent Internet money transfer that involved total amount of Rs 15 Crore.

The RBI has taken assistance of cyber crime cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in order to curb the menace.

While the authorities are performing its bit, some common steps that Internet users can take to avoid falling victim to scam include -

Firstly, Internet users like Nair should keep in mind that they could only win a lottery if they have participated in it or bought ticket. If they don't remember participating in a lottery talked by an e-mail, they should be clear that this is big red flag and someone might be trying to dupe them with scam.

Internet users should keep in mind that no legitimate lottery game will ever ask for payment or fee to transfer the money. Hence, if anyone gets an e-mail asking for a fee or payment as in the case of Nair, then he should ignore it or bring it into the notice of the authorities.

Since users' could not stop the lottery scam e-mails enter their inboxes (because they are well-texted), they should stay vigilant against these types of lottery scams and remain updated of warning to avoid scam e-mails.

Related article: Internet Threat Volumes Overwhelm Security Companies

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