By Zafar Abbas

New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS): White-collar criminals are coming up with new ways to dupe the unemployed and needy looking for government jobs.

The Delhi police cyber cell has recently unearthed many rackets which create bogus websites resembling government websites to lure people and extort money from potential victims.

Recently, the cyber cell of the Delhi police busted a racket which floated a fake Central Government Scheme titled 'PM Shishu Vikas Yojna' which claimed to cover government school students and offered bogus monetary benefits for education and health needs. They had even established a network of State, District and Taluk-level agents for luring gullible people into the scheme. All states across the country were covered by these agents. Three persons, who were the masterminds behind the elaborate, nation-wide fraud have been arrested from different parts of UP and Bihar.

In July this year, Delhi police was compelled to block a fake website that lured people in the name of Pradhan Mantri Berozgar Bhatta Yojna 2020. The Delhi police noticed that on social media a URL/Link of one fake website in the name of Pradhan Mantri Berozgar Bhatta Yojana 2020 was being pushed through WhatsApp messages in different groups targeting gullible citizens. Immediately, the fake website was blocked.

People fall prey to these websites as they are meticulously designed with just a minor change in the URL that is hard to detect. Sometimes even bogus government schemes are floated to lure people in. So, what are the precautions that a person could take to safeguard themselves from online fraudsters?

"Citizens are advised to verify any online information about government schemes and their benefits from credible, official websites. They should not fall prey to fraudsters who lure them through fake websites, marketing gimmicks," said Anyesh Roy, DCP Cyber Cell.

Earlier the Delhi police has also arrested five people for duping hundreds of job seekers on the pretext of providing jobs in the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at IGI Airport, New Delhi. The accused used to give advertisements on Facebook seeking applications for jobs in AAI and even sent fake appointment letters to the applicants. They asked for money to be deposited in several bank accounts on various pretexts until the victim walked out of the communication.

"People are advised to rely on genuine Government websites with ".gov.in" extension. Citizens should also verify information from multiple sources (Genuine Sites, PIB Bulletin, Verified Social Media accounts of Govt. Departments, etc.) before making any financial transaction," said a senior police officer.