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Many tens of hundreds of individuals are focused by cons dubbed “romance scams” yearly, their numbers skyrocketing through the Covid pandemic when lockdowns despatched individuals flocking to the web looking for a salve for isolation.
Ramesh Kumar Swain, who married and defrauded and married 27 ladies from ten completely different states for cash is being referred to as India’s ‘Tinder Swindler.’
The 66-year-old con man was arrested by the Odisha police whereas he was travelling in a automobile in Bhubaneswar.
”Although he seemed greater than 60 in actual life, his victims ignored it whereas contemplating his authorities job. Swain took full benefit of the ladies’s helplessness and laid elaborate traps,” stated Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner Umashankar Sprint.
Amongst one among Odisha’s most infamous fraudsters, Swain focused ladies that have been middle-aged, educated, and well-off however have been dealing with divorce, or had household points.
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Though he has has solely 5 toes 2 inches tall and handed Class X, he has been accused of defrauding 13 banks in Kerala of Rs 1 crore ($1.3 million) utilizing 128 cast bank cards.
He additionally swindled mother and father in Hyderabad of Rs 2 crore ($2.7 million) by promising their youngsters seats in MBBS programs.
The US Federal Commerce Fee, monitoring scams reported to its Client Sentinel Community, stated 2021 noticed a report $547 million stolen in romance scams. This marked a virtually 80 p.c enhance in comparison with the yr earlier than.
These figures cap an upward development that leapt within the first yr of the pandemic. Individuals reported to the FTC shedding $1.3 billion to the scams over the previous 5 years, probably the most of any fraud class.
However it’s simply the tip of the iceberg, the FTC notes, because the overwhelming majority of cons go unreported.
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Tim McGuinness, founding father of the non-profit Society of Residents Towards Relationship Scams (SCARS), stated numbers soared due to “the isolation, the loneliness and the utilisation of the online as just about the unique communication software” through the pandemic.
Covid provides new ruses
Cancelled dates over supposedly optimistic Covid checks and disrupted journey plans because of lockdowns are ruses that feed into the well-worn script of romance scammers, the FTC warned.
Whereas consciousness is rising, via help teams, on-line boards and even a latest documentary on Netflix “The Tinder Swindler,” many nonetheless fall prey to elaborate cons spun to get right into a sufferer’s coronary heart.
Scammers, many based mostly in West Africa, will undertake pretend identities, usually saying they work overseas and journey loads or are within the navy, offering ready-made excuses for why they can not meet in particular person.
A interval of intense contact is adopted by requests to wire cash for airplane tickets, visa charges, medical bills or different emergencies, all the time with the promise of paying the quantity again when they’re lastly united.
The web was already a low-cost, high-return discipline, however scammers, usually working in groups, now hunt in all places from Instagram to on-line video games like Phrases with Associates.
(With inputs from companies)
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