Kolkata urban belt logged nine cyber crime cases a day in festive season – Times of India

KOLKATA: Police in Kolkata and adjoining Bidhannagar and Barrackpore commissionerates have witnessed a spurt in cyber crime cases during the festive period with 550 cases being lodged in over two months — an average of nine cases a day. In all, people have been defrauded of Rs 65 lakh.

Police said the frauds began a month before Durga Puja and continued till Jagaddhatri Puja. They included fake discount offers at restaurants and fake holiday packages.
The sheer number of cases has prompted the detective department to issue advisories. Cops found that the cheats were constantly innovating to stay one step ahead of the law enforcement agencies.
The fake food coupon offers have now stopped naming restaurants on Park Street and Ballygunge and are instead using names of bakeries and biryani joints in New Market and Park Circus. Also names of popular local Chinese and pizza chains are being used. This was after eateries in Park Street and Ballygunge reported such cases to police and warned their patrons of possible cheats.
Fraudsters are also targeting delivery apps and covering their tracks by erasing their cookie history and using voice-over-IP (VOIP) manipulation as they test stolen credit cards.
A bakery’s name was used to dupe Arijit Banerjee in Belgachhia recently. Banerjee had called on the contact number of the bakery and it was answered in Hindi by a person who is actually a fraudster. “The man then told the customer to make a booking for the order and insisted that the customer needs to pay Rs 5 as a token fee at a link that he would be sending. The moment the customer accessed the link, the personal banking details are getting exposed and he runs the risk of losing a substantial amount of money,” said an officer.
A similar complaint was lodged by Sidhartha Saha, a resident of BE block in Salt Lake, who too has lost more than Rs 31,200 in a similar fraud in the name of a bakery. The police said that the money was looted in two attempts. The complaint, lodged at Bidhannagar North police station, mentions the duration of his fall call with the cheat and the e-wallet transaction that followed.
For those planning a trip to some popular destinations like north Bengal and Sikkim or offbeat ones like Kashmir during the festival season were duped after being handed over fake tickets. Sumit Singh of Cossipore lost Rs 30,000 after being handed over fake tickets to travel to Kashmir by air. Pratyusha Banerjee of Behala was stranded at Gangtok after she booked a package through an unknown agency to save money during her planned North Sikkim trip but found that the agency never existed.
“The fraudsters are now also using display advertisements on networking sites in the name of some of the finest eateries of south and central Kolkata saying that one can buy two meals for the cost of one. They are also offering the cheapest rates to travel across the country. Once the victim is convinced about clicking on these advertisements, several google forms appear where the victim is asked to place orders and make payments,” said an officer of anti-bank fraud cell of Kolkata Police.
“We are certain that some local elements have ganged up with some Jharkhand-based gang. We are ascertaining details from telecom service providers,” said an officer.