Hyderabad techies most gullible to matrimony, OTP fraud

HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad Cybercrime Cell has made a startling discovery -over 50% of the victims of online job frauds as well as matrimonial and one-time password (OTP) frauds are IT professionals, who are being taken for a ride by fraudsters from non-IT backgrounds.
As per data provided by the Cyberabad Cybercrime Cell, as many as 195 cases have been registered this year till September.“We have received around 60 to 70 cases pertaining to OTP, job and matrimony frauds, in which 50% of the victims were IT professionals. However, the accused in most cases have been identified to be from non-IT backgrounds,“ said S Jayaram, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cybercrime Cell, Cyberabad.
“Most IT professionals don't fall for fraudulent newspaper ads for local jobs but get duped as they upload their resumes on several job search sites, from where fraudsters get their details and approach them with fake overseas job offers,“ said S Jayaram.

In matrimonial fraud cases, most IT professionals look online for grooms or brides staying abroad. “First they build trust through matrimonial sites, then ask for monetary favours from the victims and later cut contact,“ he added.
According to the police, 27 Africans have been arrested so far for matrimony and job frauds. Several cases of Africans handling matrimonial accounts under Indian names too have come to light.“In such cases, the victim hears a non-Indian accent and falls for the accused,“ said Jayram. Nearly 50% of OTP fraud victims too have been identified as IT professionals, while the rest are mostly retired government or private sector employees.