Cyber Crime
Pregnant Women And New Mothers Latest Victims Of Cyber Criminals
NEW DELHI: Cybercriminals are now targeting pregnant women and new mothers living in rural areas by posing as government officials. The police investigation revealed that scammers posing as Anganwadi workers take details of pregnant and lactating mothers and on the pretext of proving funds from the government they cheat them.
Azamgarh police have arrested a man from Jamui region of the Jamtara belt who was cheating new mothers. He was arrested after an Azamgarh resident complained that she was cheated of Rs 2.50 lakh on the pretext of giving Rs 6,000 under the government’s Ladli scheme. Under the scheme, National Savings Certificates (NSC) worth Rs 6,000 is purchased annually by the state government on behalf of the newborn girl child.
The man arrested has been identified as Sarju Mandal. He told the police that his gang contacted Anganwadi workers of the area after obtaining their details online and after pretending to be health officials. He took details of pregnant and lactating women from them.
The gang then contacted these women and told them that they will be receiving a link for the receipt of Rs 6,000 under the Ladli scheme. But instead of crediting, large sums of money got debited from their accounts on clicking on the link or by stealing their banking password.
A similar gang was busted by the Delhi police a week ago in which 14 cyber criminals were arrested. The gang operating from Jamui took data and cheated people on the name of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
Cyber criminals are adopting new modus-operandi to cheat people. They mostly impersonate government officials to target people to appear genuine.