V.Viswanathan
There are dime a dozen ways today in which people get conned by fraudsters thanks to personal information accessible in the public domain. Criminals make use of data either voluntarily provided by individuals or by hacking, phishing or other means. They mesmerise and mislead people to share their credit or debit card PIN numbers and OTP and in the blink of an eye, they disappear into thin air with a loot, leaving the hoodwinked persons shocked and crestfallen.
Sometime back, I got a call from a recruiting agency. A man who introduced himself as an executive of the firm said that my CV has been shortlisted by four top notch international companies for overseas placement and advised me to access the internet immediately. “Why should I access the internet for a telephonic conversation?” I wondered and replied that I could go online only after sometime.
After ten minutes, the same person called and put me through to their so- called HR Director. The latter, after customary greetings, informed me that four prestigious companies had zeroed in on me for the position of General Manager indicating a whopping salary package and added that I could negotiate even higher. “But Sir, for us to organise the next level of client interviews, you need to login to our website,” he said.
I quizzed him as to how he got my CV. He replied that they access many platforms and their ethics barred them from revealing the source. “Sir, Can you login now?” he didn’t let me off the hook.
Done in by his glib talk, I logged in self-assuring me that after all, I had nothing to lose. The HR Director gave me a unique ID and guided me step by step and in such a manner that I didn’t even realise that he had unobtrusively directed me their payment portal. He now advised me to enter my credit or debit card details for a registration fee of Rs 7000. “Fee? Why should I pay any fee for recruitment?” I protested. “Sir. This is a one- time fee and it’s not 7000 USD, just Indian rupees. For the salary package you’re going to be offered, this is nothing.”
I grew suspicious and to buy time I told him, “I have to enter OTP (one time pin) to validate the payment. The OTP will land on the phone number that I’m talking to you, so I’ve to disconnect the call.” The man’s voice drooped at this twist in the tale, as he seemed bent on finishing the transaction in one go without any interruption. Yet, unrelenting, he called me a few more times to find out if I’d entered the OTP.
Meanwhile, I googled the agency’s name and found out there were so many angry and tragic stories of people cheated by this agency, in the first stage with a registration fee of Rs 7000 and then through fake interviews, further demand of money and so on. They wondered how such unscrupulous firms carry on their deceitful business without an iota of legal bother.
“Have you entered the OTP Sir?” the gentleman intending to rob me of 7K came back on the line one more time. “No. But why are you in such a hurry for the payment? It’s all fishy,” I shot back. The man cut me off, obviously scouting for the next fish to be trapped in his net.
