INTRODUCTION:
‘Right to Privacy’ has been existing in India in form of the ‘Right to life and Personal Liberty. It is mentioned under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Along with the Right to privacy Article 21 is home to various other articles—
- Right to shelter,
- Right to food,
- Right to die with dignity,
- Right to go abroad,
- Right pollution-free water and air etc.
Article 21 of the Indian constitution is also subjected to certain restrictions that must be just, fair, and in accordance with the procedure established by law. The article is aimed at protecting the personal information of citizens by way of data protection. However, the need has been recognized for it through various series of cases
The lesser awareness of ‘Privacy’ related issues acts as an easily accessible for scammers to commit fraud. The Aadhar Registration Form of Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Twitter showing the irresponsibility of the government towards the issue. Many instances have been seen where most of the victims are those who are new to the age of the internet. For the scammer, the amount scammed would be just a few thousand or lakhs. But, the one who is earning knows the value of every single penny. The data of the public can be easily purchased from contractors and then found the target.
Answering ‘yes’ to the question ‘can you hear me?’ is where the attempt to record your answer in the affirmative starts. One should rephrase their answer as ‘I can hear you instead of answering ‘yes’. People lose a lot of money in hands of scammers. They would pretend to be some legitimate agency and would provide you with some convincing reasons. Scammers have found a number of ways in which one can extort money from you. When they gave you a full sense of security, they would ask the victim to give some confidential data. The data may include—
- One-Time Password.
- Credit/Debit Card Number.
- Card Verification Value.
- Password.
- ATM Pin
- Any other relevant data.
TYPES OF SCAMS:
- Imposter Scam: It pretends to be a government agency or some authority that you trust.
- Debt Relief: They may offer you loans at a lower rate of interest with a certain amount of fee.
- Investment Scams: They advise you of some help for purpose of investing in a business that you wish to start. They would suggest that it would help you earn more profit.
- Charity Scam: Scammers may pose as charities. It requests donations for purpose of disaster relief management.
- Spoofing: It can have some caller Id that may be easy to convince you.
RECOGNIZING A SCAM—
- The caller may say you are ‘selected’ for an offer or that you have won the lottery. But, in order to claim the prize, you have to pay a certain amount is not the prize.
- The caller may pretend to be an agency responsible for law enforcement. They try to make you change your mind by saying you shall be arrested, deported, or fined if you refuse to pay.
- Any legitimate business would not force you to take a decision right away. They are most likely to give you some time to think it over.
- Scammers will often ask you to transfer money via gift card, prepaid cash, or any other payment mode.
- Any scammer will pry on your personal details and say they are taking it for confirmation.
Dealing with scammers—
No Government Agency or Bank will call for payment of taxes or take a loan. Such an agency shall not be calling you personally. They may communicate through messages or email. The solution to this is to stop attending such calls or you may tell them you will enquire the concerned agency yourself. To save yourself from scams never reveal your details be it whatever agency calling.
- Hang up – When a company is calling you illegally and it’s not a company you wish to do business with. You may get a robocall that asks you to press certain numbers instead of letting you talk with a live operator.
- Call blocking: When a scammer calls the internet users could be from anywhere in the world. The best option to not have such calls is blocking the calls which may be marking them as a scam.
PREVENTION OF FRAUD CALLS:
- Never respond to calls asking to update your User ID, Password, PIN, or CVV and enquire the concerned agency about it.
- Never give your information on any pop-up window.
- The information related to CVV, PIN, and Password is strictly confidential information and shall not be revealed.
- Never click on any links provided by SMS or Email to get access to the bank’s website.
RECENT LEGISLATION ON DATA PROTECTION 2019:
This act provides for personal data to the government, companies incorporated in India, and foreign companies dealing with the personal data of individuals with individual consent. Such data can only be processed only for lawful purposes there must be transparency in safeguarding measures and must have a grievance redressal mechanism. The individual has the right over his personal data and can seek correction of inaccurate or incomplete data. Can transfer his data to any other fiduciary in presence of certain circumstances.
CONCLUSION:
By the way of Fraud Calls, the privacy of citizens has been questioned by the Indian government. Besides the changing of government, there is no effective legislation to deal with such situations. People must learn to protect themselves from such calls. Even if they share their personal details with someone due to negligence, they shall inform Cyber Police about the same. It has always been a difficult task to deal with such situations but Cyber Police may help in the prevention of further damage. Indian Government needs to come up with relevant legislation and provides strong protection of data.
Also Read – https://www.cybercelldelhi.in/fakecallsfrauds.html
