Don’t fall prey to machinations of online scammers

Representation Pic

The Ram Mandir pran prathisthan in Ayodhya became a happy hunting ground for cybercriminals and scams in the name of Lord Ram.

Over the past few weeks, officials from the Maharashtra Cyber department tracked a wide range of attempts to defraud citizens by exploiting religious sentiments. The most common modus operandi was messages accompanied by QR codes, seeking donations for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trustin Ayodhya. Citizens were being lured into paying supposed donations by scanning QR codes and sending amounts of their choice.

Meanwhile, the police also observed several messages circulating on social media platforms, fraudulent lures offering entry into the temple in exchange for a price. Several bogus social media accounts and websites in the name of the trust have also come to light.

This follows a typical pattern by criminals to try to cash in on national sentiment or excitement. In this case, it is the Mandir, but globally too, events like maybe a football World Cup, or a big-ticket music programme spawn a multitude of such rackets.

Criminals are always looking to cash in on sentiment, emotions and desperation to be part of the action during a high-octane event as they know people are especially vulnerable at that time, looking for ways to get to a place or a programme/event.

Use a healthy dose of scepticism for any of these offers. Go back and check if trusts/organisers have a website.

Call for information on legit website numbers and ask if they are indeed giving such an offer. Double-check if people are offering entry for a price if the place is already booked. There is no substitute for solid research and double checks. Finally, even gut feel and instincts are good, so pay attention. Raise red flags in your mind, so that alarm bells go off. Caution before clicking is the way to go.