How I Nearly Got Scammed!

In the new year be careful online as there are many scamsters lurking in the cloud, warns A Ganesh Nadar after twice escaping being scammed.

The only reason I am sharing this is to ensure our readers do not get cheated in a similar way.

I spend a lot of time online on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. A fortnight ago I got a friendship request from Anderson Rose on Facebook.

I checked her profile -- a good looking 35-year-old lady and so I accepted.

She was on FB messenger almost immediately suggesting we chat on WhatsApp and I agreed. The harmless conversation went on for a while before she said she was coming to India on Friday.

On Thursday she told me she is landing in Delhi and after finishing her work there she will come to visit me in Chennai.

I was surprised because I have never met any of my numerous Facebook friends. Ever.

This one was special as she was flying in from another country. She had told me she was in London.

On Thursday evening I asked her when she was landing and was surprised when she sent me a picture of her return ticket from London to Delhi.

This was followed by a picture of her luggage and then herself.

Next morning I was wondering why she had not contacted me as her flight was supposed to land at 8:50 am. Around 11:30 am I got a call from a gentleman who said he was calling from Customs, Delhi airport.

"We have detained this lady Rose Anderson as she was carrying a demand draft for one million pounds. She has to pay a fine of Rs 165,000 to get her DD released. We have impounded it and she is in custody."

I was shocked and asked to speak to her. Fifteen minutes later she was on the phone telling me that she had already paid Rs 100,000 that she had and needed another Rs 65,000 to get out of the airport.

I asked her to send me her account details. She said I am not allowed to send money abroad without permission.

She said I should pay the fine directly.

The customs guy called again and said he would send me the bank details. I was surprised when he sent the account details of Anuj Singh.

I called him and told that a customs fine is to be paid into a government account and not to an individual.

He told me to pay up if I wanted my friend to be released.

Rose spoke to me again promising to return my money once she encashed her DD which was worth more than 9 crore rupees.

I called up a friend in Delhi and he gave me the name and number of his lawyer. His lawyer told me that you can bring in any amount of money through bank instruments and someone was definitely cheating me and my friend.

He also told me to find out the designation of the custom officer who had contacted me.

I called the man and he told me he was an immigration Officer. I reminded him that earlier he had told me that he was working in the Customs.

He told me that it was not important who he was, was I going to pay the fine.

I called Rose and she demanded whether I was going to pay the fine and help her not. Her tone was now threatening.

I told her what my lawyer had said and advised her to call the British high commission.

The CustomS guy called me again and I told him that a friend was coming with the cash to the airport.

He told me that because of the covid scare no one was allowed to enter the airport without a ticket and so he would accept only a bank transfer.

I explained to him that my bank after adding a beneficiary I could transfer up to Rs 50,000 after half an hour and the Rs 15,000 I could transfer only the next day.

He advised me to use G Pay and transfer the money immediately.

I refused and he said, "Then I have no choice but to deport her and send her back to where she came from."

Rose sent me an abusive message on WhatsApp.

This article is to inform readers not to get scammed by such scamsters.

One more scam I would like to mention here. I got a friendship request from a young lady and I accepted.

She wanted to chat on WhatsApp and next I got a video call from her.

She started taking off her clothes while she was talking to me and after becoming naked told me to take off my clothes.

I had read about this scam where she would save my nude pictures and then threaten to upload it on Facebook and Instagram and also send it to my online friends.

I told her I was not going to strip as I was 65 and too old for this. I blocked her number and her profile on Facebook.

In the new year be careful online as there are many scamsters lurking in the cloud.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com