Seeing them as a chance to escape turmoil and police wrath, a growing number of Kashmiri Muslim youth have been falling victims to foreign cyber cheaters who dupe them of thousands of rupees on pretext of depositing millions of dollars in their accounts.

“Hundreds of youth have been duped by the unknown cyber cheaters and even State’s premier investigating agency Crime branch have been informing the general masses of valley about these frauds by issuing advertisements in local daily newspapers and other means of communications,” advocate Tanveer Ahmad of South Kashmir told OnIslam.net.

“Mostly youngsters fell to their traps and the cause is obvious ‘Unemployment and after effects of conflict,” he claimed.

The worrying phenomenon appeared recently after thousands of youngsters in Kashmir have received e-mails promising them millions of dollars.

According to Ahmad, this type of the cheating appeared after turmoil started in the trouble torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Aasif Nazir Kuttay of Sadiwara village, from Anantnag district of south Kashmir is one of the young Kashmiri youth who was able to save his money at the last minute.

Like hundreds of Kashmiri youth, Nazir received an anonymous e-mail from someone promising him a transfer of $7.5 million.

“After I showed my interest I was mailed with some of the documents including a Draft on demand (cheque) dated 24-2-2014 of National Irish Bank amounting to five hundred thousand Euros in favour of Mr Aasif Nazir, Toyota Automobile Company Limited besides prize award claim authorization claim issued by the Royal Court of Justice London,” he said.

“I was also mailed with a copy of passport of one Moriss Johan a British citizen,” he said adding: “I was told to transfer fifty seven thousand to clear the award money from the Customs department in New Delhi so that the amount is transferred in my account through RBI.”

“I was very enthusiastic about the money thinking that there must be some type of lucky draw, but when I shared the information with some of my friends I was told that all these lucky draws are fake and a new means of cheating by the foreign cyber cheaters,” he told OnIslam.net.

“Soon after I went to bank to transfer the said amount I was told by one of the bank employee to get the claim confirmed by someone in customs department in Delhi and when one of my friends went to the customs department he found no person or parcel there and I stopped the payment,” he told OnIslam.net.

For the young man, who is unemployed, the money promised him a new life.

“I still can’t understand as why someone will send millions of Dollars to unknown people whom they (mailers) even don’t know and have never contacted each other,” he said.

“I am unemployed and am not able to get employment so was very happy to get such an offer, I managed the amount but luckily bank employee stopped me to transfer the amount,” he added.

Same Woes

Same as Aasif, other young Kashmiris told stories about falling victims to the anonymous cheaters.

“I also received an email from some unknown person assuring of lucky draw and he wanted me to send fifteen thousand to receive a cheque of rupees one billion Euros,” Anfaqul-Nazir-Wani from Central Kashmir told OnIslam.net.

Like Aasif, good friends saved Wani from falling in the traps of those foreign cheaters.

“I discussed the offer with some people who stopped me to send any amount to these cheaters,” he said.

“Unfortunately the whereabouts of these cheaters are not know and I tried my best to get the details but they keep changing their email ID’s and the countries where from these emails are sent,” he added.

Though both Aasif and Wani were saved at last minute, hundreds of Kashmiri youth did not have the same luck, paying thousands of rupees to those cyber cheaters.

“I received an email from some unknown persons who claimed to be the native of Labia wherein I was asked to send complete family and account details promising to send millions of Dollars which the mailer says is to be distributed among some of the people,” Mohd Altaf of south Kashmir told OnIslam.net.

“Such emails are sent to other people also as the email I received the same was mailed to one of my face book friend.

Facing the increasing trend, the crime branch has been sending SMS alerts to all mobile users mentioning therein ‘beware of fake emails forwarded by the foreign cyber cheaters’.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is divided into two parts and ruled by India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the region.

Pakistan and the UN back the right of the Kashmir people for self-determination, an option opposed by New Delhi.

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/470593-foreign-cyber-cheaters-lure-kashmir-youth.html

http://97.105.52.213/en/artical/17340/Foreign-Cyber-Cheaters-Lure-Kashmir-Youth