During COVID 19 pandemic, many people have been left helpless and have been affected in some way. This has made people use fraudulent ways of earning for a living, and some have become reliant on them.
In order to stay safe, vigilant, and cautious in such situations, I would like to share two incidents that I recently encountered.
ART EMAIL SCAM
A person named Kavita Pal emailed me and mentioned that she works for the Indian navy and doesn’t have a working network, and has been on duty for almost a year. She said that she was unable to attend her friend’s wedding due to work commitments and she will miss to meet them on their anniversary too. In her email, she included a photograph of one Sikh couple that she wanted me to paint. The couple lived in different state.
As it looked genuine, I agreed to proceed and sent her an affirmation email.
I receive a revert on my email asking for timelines and delivery. I quoted my price plus delivery charges. In her next email she asked me to share my account details like my name, account number, and address.
That again anyone will ask to pay advance. I asked my lawyer friend about the matter, who seemed to be okay with it, so I shared the details. Then I felt in my gut that something was wrong. It is obvious to me that you are not at risk with just your name, address, and account number since this information is widely available.
The biggest security against financial fraud is not sharing your OTP. She apparently got the idea to steal my money in my next mail. She wrote that she sent an advance payment demand draft for Rs.58500/- (the amount I quoted for the portrait was Rs.5000/-) and Rs8500/- for courier charges. It was mentioned that she would send someone with the demand draft, and that I should pay 8500/- in cash, and that the full payment would be made in advance. Having concluded that this was a fraud, I decided to report this email ID to cybercrime .A person can take up a job and get a salary and live with honor and without.
INSTAGRAM SCAM
Before the above incident, immediately after the first Lockdown in 2020, I get an Instagram message about one commissioned art and that person was from the UK. The moment I showed interest the person said that he could pay by PayPal. I asked him to make an advance payment, to which he agreed and asked me to send a PayPal ID. He then sends a message to share an OTP, which I will get on my phone; I said if you are making a payment you will get the OTP.
He created urgency but this rule “DON’T SHARE YOUR OTP WITH ANYONE” is very clear in my mind and I messaged him saying let me ask my uncle who is in cybercrime (just to scare him). That guy immediately blocked me on Instagram and so did I (I reported his profile as fake before blocking him)
With these incidences, I gathered some knowledge about cybercrime and its increase in today’s time. So here are some tips:
How can you save yourself from becoming a victim of Cybercrimes?
1) Alertness: – Whenever anyone connects intending to steal your money, your gut will tell you that it’s wrong.
2) Awareness: – Read about Internet scams and make your elders, friends, and family know about online scams. Especially, older people as they fall for it more than you.
Some ways they will ask for information.
a) They will tell you to share OTP (this is a very basic and common type), and they will come up with variations like
– Share OTP or else your account will get blocked
– Share OTP or else you won’t be able to make online payments
-Share OTP and you will win a lottery
-Share OTP, we are a travel company and we want to give you a free travel ticket to bla bla bla…..
-Share OTP for KYC of your bank account / Paytm / PayPal / GPay etc. And if you fail to do this your account will be blocked.
The basic rule to safeguard yourself from online crime is “NEVER SHARE THE OTP (ONE TIME PASSWORD) TO ANYONE IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
4) Always doubt if: –
-The “Buyer” is in a Foreign Country or They Need an Outside Shipper
-If the buyer is in a country far from you or needs to involve a shipper at all, beware — this is a major red flag.
-There is a tight timeline
-There are Spelling, Grammatical, or Spacing Errors
-They Request a Cashier’s Check or Bank Information.
Its innovative world, and people are using many innovative ways to loot you. So, stay alert, be aware and save your hard earn money to go to the fraudsters.
Art Blogs by Reena Naik 