Regret is always less desirable than caution

Representational images. Pic/iStock

This edit space has often highlighted the modus operandi of conmen and cautioning people to be vigilant when it comes to cyber fraud, especially rampant as a lot of our lives continue to run online.

One big aspect of this crime is constant reinvention, so that criminals have new ways to target people once a certain methodology becomes known or old. For instance, we saw a huge electricity bill scam where thousands of people, may be even lakhs, were sent bills by fake electricity services, stating that their electricity will be cut in a few hours if they fail to pay up.

When people wised up to that through online awareness campaigns and messages by power providers, conmen realised that the game was up and they need to move to more fertile let's fool them ground.

They have now become more aggressive in trying to lure people by impersonating celebrities and personalities.

A cyber fraudster recently tried to dupe a Dadar wrestler luring him to part with a substantial sum of money, posing as Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray.

Fortunately, before transferring the money, the wrestler, who is also a Yuva Sena functionary, did some background work, inquiring with Shiv Sena officials, as pressure to transfer money quickly increased, and he became suspicious.

A check ensured that he and his money were not parted. It shows us the importance of wising up to a pattern. Impersonating a famous person, using a tactic like a Display Picture of the famous person to build credibility, was done in this instance.

Pressuring the person to pay so that there is no time to think, and finally false reassurances that one would get the money back. Look at the linear progression, red flags and wise up. Learn from every incident, act on premonition and keep instincts extremely sharp.