The excitement of getting a brand new mobile in a lucky draw on purchasing a new SIM card turned to sadness after a software engineer lost Rs.2.5 crores. Our media is full of such scams every day. Most of the affected people are educated and many of them are well-to-do. Despite getting enough tips about how to avoid falling into the traps of scamsters who are using mobile phones as their weapons, why are such scams happening? That made me think.
One of the important reasons is man`s greed for getting something free or getting much more than what he deserves. The news item mentioned in the first part of this article is an example of such cases. Remember the time when fraudulent NBFCs used to cheat the common people by offering crazy returns on their investments? Greedy people continued to patronize such Ponzi schemes despite negative news about such schemes.
The second reason is fear syndrome. Most of the scamsters have done their homework and mostly attack people with enough money in their bank accounts. When the scamsters accuse a person of some crime they have or have not committed and threaten dire consequences if their demand is not met- the fear of facing public humiliation makes people succumb to the threats. Maybe many of these affected are having something to hide. Out of fear, instead of reporting the matter to the cyber cell, they respond to the caller and find themselves wiped of life savings. The number of such calls all of us receive every day is mind-boggling.
Though I don`t have a huge bank balance, I am very cautious about such calls. Apart from the warning I get about spam calls from Airtel, I also don't respond to calls that are not in my contact list, unless I am expecting a call from a service provider I am familiar with. I also don't respond to calls starting with 804. I am sure they are spam calls. Even by mistake if I respond, I disconnect the call the moment I realize that it is from a scamster. All of us have received detailed instructions about spam calls through WA. Let us try to strictly follow them and save ourselves the tragedy of being taken for a ride by the scamsters who seem to be relentless in pursuing gullible people.
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