Nearly a year back, in this blog forum I had posted about phishing and the Indian laws in my earliest blog 'Phishing:the lawyer says' (Halder.D. 2009, August) @ http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/2009/08/phishing-lawyer-says.html . One thing that kept on bothering me during these days was could the victim get the money back that he had lost ? In one of my feedbacks to cyber crimes that was published in LiveIT, (19th july, 2010)a magazine dedicated for cyber affairs, I had said that victims of phishing some times can not come to terms with the loss and it is my job to make them understand that the amount they have lost MAY NOT ALWAYS be recovered. Yes, the heart breaking news is sometimes, the amount is 'really gone'. Our laws punish the offender for money laundering in this cyber way; but what about the victim's right to recover the full amount ? I doubt.........from my professional experience, I have seen in such cases, after registering the case with the police, very few lucky victims get back the fortune that he /she lost. But I know the victim's pain myself because I had seen a family member of mine who had been victim of monetary cheating in the hands of cheat funds. Well, the story is the same when the case happens to a victim who is residing in UK, US or any other developed nation.I know a couple of victims who had lost a good amount of money in the UK and the government reporting agency could be of no help for recovering the amount.
What do the law says in this case? in India, according to me, the nearest provision which is provided by the IT Act, 2008 (amended) is section 66D whereby the offender is punished for cheating by impersonation and also Section 66C which speaks of Identity theft; along with provisions of Indian penal Code which explains cheating and punishments(such as section 415,416, 417) etc But the victimization that I had mentioned in the LiveIT interview is more about cheating by impersonation where offender poses as person who is willing to give money as cash prize for lottery , 'daughter/son/relative' of the dead person, banker of the dead person etc whose money is 'intended to be shared' with the victim etc., and where the offender appears in person to 'do business.' In certain of these sorts of scams, if the victim informs the police before hand about the phishing emails and probable meeting dates and places, the 'scam' could come to an abrupt end and recovery of the money could be more swift.
But it is always not the same story. in some cases, a paltry amount or even full amount may be recovered......how?The only way to recover the money lost in this way, is to be aware (especially when the scammer had not asked the bank informations and asked the victim to pay him in person.........in cases where the victim is asked provide bank informations, he/she should never respond to such emails........you may never know how these people can break into strictly secured bank accounts) and inform the police when the deal has unfortunately reached either the beginning stage or in the mid way..........i.e, when the individual at the receiving end has emailed back to the victim's response to the fraud, promising him to pay lumpsome if the victim meets the 'offender' at a designated place and hands over some documents/cash etc as processing money.
Remember,' prevention is better than cure '.......and it stands true in phishing cases also.
Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2010), “Phishing : How can the victim recover the lost fortune”, July 2010, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/
