Online Scam:  Online fraud is increasing rapidly. Scammers are inventing new ways to cheat people. According to a report, about 76 thousand people have been duped by creating fake websites for designer clothes. Fraudsters made more than 8 lakh people their victims. These fraudsters worked like a big and organized gang.

Where was the scam happening from?

According to the report, these fraudsters were from Fujian province of China. Many of the Internet addresses (IP addresses) used by them were from China, especially from the cities of Putian and Fuzhou in Fujian. These fraudsters had hired programmers and people who stole information, whose salaries were paid through Chinese banks. It has also been told in the report that three types of job-related contracts have also been recovered for these people, in which the name of Fuzhou Zhongqing Network Technology Co., Ltd. was mentioned as the employer. A German cyber security company has exposed this fraudulent gang. 

How did fraudsters cheat people?

These fraudsters used to create fake online stores of big brands like Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace, and Prada. The first fake website was created in 2015. These websites were in many languages ​​like English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian. It has been said in the report that in the last three years, more than 10 lakh orders were received on these websites. 

Even though these websites had nothing to do with the real brands, they still claimed to sell branded goods at cheap prices. Due to this, people got greedy and gave away their personal information and bank details. In most cases, people did not receive the goods they had ordered. It is estimated that not all the payments made on these websites would have been successful, but still, this group earned about 50 million euros (about Rs 45 lakh).

Where were people affected?

According to estimates, approximately 8 lakh people have been affected by this fraud. Most of these people are from America and Europe. These people had shared their email addresses, debit and credit card information, three-digit security numbers written on the card, their name, phone number, email, and address information with these websites.