Beware of scamsters exploiting emotions of masses

Image for representational purposes only (Photo Courtesy: Pexels)

Messages are still whirring on social media about the Pahalgam terror attacks. Videos, photos and advisories are all doing the rounds. Some of these are accounts of the families of those killed. Others cite new revelations as the probe goes on. There is a question mark over the credibility of some of these, but that is not the focus of this editorial.

Instead, we must highlight that amidst opinion, analyses and so-called breaking news, messages are doing the rounds about the Indian defence forces. These messages, which come with bank details, tell people to pay a certain amount, sometimes as little as Rs 1 a day, towards our armed forces. According to the messages, the money will be collected in a huge corpus, causing relatively little, if any, financial pain to each contributor. To lend credibility to these messages, some claim to be part of a government scheme.

There are a few cautionary messages about checking the veracity of these extremely dubious-sounding schemes, but these are few and far between. This is an emotionally charged, uncertain time for many Indians, and there is so much outrage, anger and angst.

In that frame of mind, people are apt to click emotionally, rather than rationally, and risk their bank accounts being cleared in a few minutes.

It also shows the mindset of the conmen, who capitalise on a recent event - in this case, a terror attack - and spin their fraud, using that as the base. This is a classic case, with all frauds using topical crisis or conflict as base to lure people. They use the heightened sentiment and climate of rage to their advantage.

Always be calm, cool, healthily sceptical and mindful of the adage: when in doubt, check and recheck it out.