This paper has followed such scams regularly
Familiar modus operandi, but newer victims, that is the story behind a report in this paper about the Malad police arresting the mastermind behind a travel firm's scheme that duped 100 people.
The mastermind, Arif Sayed, was held a week after cops arrested four people in connection with the Hyderabad-based travel firm Elite Group of Loyalty Services for duping more than 100 people from the city of Rs 1 crore on the pretext of providing them with gym memberships and holiday packages at discounted rates along with exciting gifts.
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This paper has followed such scams regularly. In 2017, we ran an extensive report on a top gastrointestinal surgeon with Holy Family Hospital, Bandra, Dr Bryan Sodder, who fell for an exhausting con called Priority International Holidays Club Pvt Ltd. In it, he and his wife were promised international travel and gym memberships at rock bottom prices. The modus operandi was the same, meeting prospective victims at a mall and then luring them to part with cash for these so-called prizes.
Malls must do background checks when such executives use their space to lure victims. Often, a simple Internet search does reveal that there is more to this than meets the eye.
It will help malls from knowingly or unknowingly becoming the first step to such a con. Banquet halls are often hired for the purpose of getting people together to better understand schemes and then of course, swipe away their credit cards and money for lakhs. Owners of these banquet hall must be encouraged to do some background checks even if they find nothing, and not be in a hurry to give out their hall to anybody wanting to book it. Most of all those people must be skeptical and check out whether the offer that seems to good to be true is exactly that - too good to be true.
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