Cybercrooks are no tech geeks, but most are smart storytellers: DCP Cyber Crime

NEW DELHI: They commit crimes in the complex world of high tech but most cyber crooks are no tech geeks. Rather, they are master storytellers with little education who dupe gullible victims online with their glib tongue, a top police officer said.

Hemant Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Cyber Crime unit of Delhi Police, told PTI that during investigation, his sleuths were able to draw the profiles of victims and accused.

"They do not have any sound academic background but are brilliant in telling stories to their prey," he said.

None of them are engineering graduates, he said, adding that most of them are Class 10 Or Class 12 passouts.

The crooks gain the trust of the victim to such an extent that they even go back to the scamster for advice when warned by police or others that they are likely to fall prey.

"I remember, when our team arrested an accused in a cyber fraud case. He was about to cheat a West Bengal-based elderly woman. Our officer called her and told her the man she was about to send money to has been arrested. The moment the officer disconnected the call, the woman called the accomplices of the arrested person saying that she received a suspicious call and wondered if she is being scammed by somone claiming to be police," he recalled.

The victims, he said, are generally middle-aged men or women, who are looking for life companions on matrimonial sites, well educated, well-to-do and investment savvy.

"There are different categories of victims. Those who are in their 50s or above, are staying alone and are from well-to-do financial background, can become victims of digital arrest," he said.

A new kind of cyber fraud has emerged in recent months, the so-called 'digital arrest," where criminals pose as law enforcement officials, like CBI or Customs, and force the victims to voluntarily go into house arrest by saying they are under 'digital arrest'.

They even monitor the "arrestee" through video call to make sure the victim stays indoors and does not communicate with others, even family members, while the "investigation" is on.

Once the victim is fully under their control, the criminals make them pay money. The pretext can be many: either the victim has received a parcel with contraband which has been seized by customs, or his bank account has been used for money laundering.

Tiwari said cybercriminals do their research first by stalking the victim's social media profiles and other details available online.

He said victims of investment frauds are well-read, come from sound financial background, and know about investment strategies. They often become victims of investment scheme scams.

Tiwari said that every day at least 700 people are falling prey to cyber frauds in the national capital alone and the numbers have been going up substantially in the last 18 months with most crimes resulting from ignorance, greed, and fear of the victims.

Apart from investment fraud and extortion, some fall prey to "sextortion", he said. This is when the caller claims the victim is accused of child pornography, and extorts money to hush up the case.

The Delhi Police has investigated financial frauds worth over Rs 500 crore this year so far.

Tiwari said cybercriminals are spreading their tentacles across the country by opening bank accounts in one state and procuring SIMs from another.

"Earlier most of the cyber crimes were reported either from Jamtara in Jharkhand or Mewat region of Haryana. Jamtara has become popular because of a series that was made on the cybercriminals operating from there. But now other hotspots are also emerging," he said.

He said his unit has identified more than 15 such regions.

"Mahakaushal region (Jabalpur) in Madhya Pradesh and Malwa region (Indore) and some areas in South India -- these areas are hub for opening bank accounts to operate such frauds," Tiwari said.

Assam and West Bengal are hubs for procuring SIMs in bulk to make calls.