Thiruvananthapuram: With several people falling prey to financial fraud over the internet, the state police chief (SPC) T. P. Senkumar has appealed for caution.

Many, particularly elderly citizens, fall for internet’s oldest frauds wherein they are asked over SMS and email for a token amount to process the massive prize money they had won on a non-existent online lottery.

“Some others request money claiming they lost cash or valuables in some other country. Once the victims deposit money in the account, suspect seeks more money,” Mr Senkumar said in an official statement.

Recently, the widow of an ex-IAS officer had fallen for such a crime. “Several similar spam messages direct people to links that direct them to websites attractive offers. Please do not open suspicious links or give any reply. They can potentially carry a virus,” he appeals.



Do not share your personal details or bank details to anyone online. A bank’s username or password can be used by touts to steal money.

“Purchases are made using credit card details and it may not be possible to regain the money. Personal information shared can be used for criminal activities and it can take months or years to escape from such activities,” he warned.

These days touts take money from people offering jobs in prestigious companies and hence one always need to cross check the facts using the number provided on the company’s official websites.

“Though several people fall victim to such crimes and lose lakhs of rupees, most of them are ashamed of approaching police. Please make sure that such crimes are reported to the nearest police authority,” Senkumar said.