A recent report by Ultrascan-AGI a group that investigates and researches online fraud has published a report where they point out that in 2013, Indians transferred an estimated $870 million (over Rs 5,000 crore) to online scamsters.
These are usually ‘phsihing’ scams where people are convinced to part with their money in lieu of exceptionally high returns. In most cases, the scamsters say over email that they are a family of a deceased dictator or monarch and need funds to access their bank account.
Of late, they have also started using text messaging indicating that people have won online lotteries that do not exist and the winners need to pay a processing fee, usually between $500-1000 to access their winnings. These scams are known as ‘419’ scams thanks to a particular section of the Nigerian Criminal Code.
Most of these scamsters operate from Nigeria, although several criminal rings also operate domestically. People get fooled by these promises of easy money. And the money raised from these scams often go towards criminal gangs in Africa. However, what is scary is several of these scams directly fund terror organizations such as Al-Qaida affiliate Boko Haram, which recently kidnapped 200 young girls in Nigeria. It is uncertain if such scams fund terrorists operating within India, however it is likely that some funds do find their way there.