In the last one year, Cyber Crime sleuths recorded two cases where con artistes successfully used matrimonial sites to dupe people. The recently arrested B Tech graduate B Ravi Kishore duped 54 women by posing as an IIT graduate with a Master's degree from University of California.
His predecessor, V Deepti Reddy, who was arrested by CID sleuths in 2011, lured high earning professionals by posing as an MBBS graduate. "Though there are many such instances, only a handful of the victims approach the police as the media attention might further dampen their chances of getting a suitable partner," a CID official said.
CID sleuths who investigated both these cases found striking similarities in the modus operandi of the two criminals and the profiles of their victims. The victims in both these cases were high earning professionals, mostly software engineers, doctors, architects and management professionals.
Despite being well educated, none of the victims bothered to verify the genuineness of the profiles of the accused and police believe that the not so easily available 'suitable' partner is the reason behind it. The victims were blinded by the polished English and well respected professional life of the accused.
"Kishore, who worked in a BPO earlier, used to talk to the victims with an American accent. So, the victims never bothered to cross check his claims of being a Microsoft employee with degrees from IIT Mumbai and University of California," CID additional SP, U Ram Mohan, said.
To further push the victims into trusting him, Kishore always used to travel in a hired AC cab and meet the victims at five star hotels only. "In reality, Kishore used to share a flat with some others at Miyapur in the city outskirts and he just had two pairs of formal wear," the investigating officer said. None of the 54 women whom he befriended through his profile on the matrimonial site knew his actual residential address but he successfully exploited 22 of them.
Same was the case with Deepti Reddy who borrowed money from just over 20 people by befriending them through her doctor profile on a matrimonial site. Deepti was already married twice before she posted her profile on the website and she has two children, police said. Deepti took lakhs of rupees from several of her prospective grooms, whom she never met personally, by saying that the money is for performing surgeries on poor children.
As there are lakhs of educated youth registered on these matrimonial sites, CID sleuths have suggested some steps to identify such con artistes:
Always verify the profile details of the individual before becoming close to that person. Employment verification can be easily done by calling up the concerned company or by paying a personal visit.
Don't give money to people with whom you become friends through online profiles even if they emotionally blackmail you.
Do not indulge in online chatting, dating or get emotionally involved with people without verifying the truthfulness of their claims.
None of the victims bothered to verify the genuineness of the profiles of the accused and police believe that the not so easily available 'suitable' partner is the reason behind it.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
State law runs afoul of protections for Internet providers, EFF claims - PC Advisor
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is challenging a Washington State law that criminalizes advertising for underage prostitution, claiming it runs afoul of federal protections for websites and ISPs for the actions of their users.
The law, SB 6251, seeks to limit the sexual exploitation of minors by making it a felony to run advertisements for such services. It requires online advertising platforms to attempt to verify in person the age of people whose sexual services are advertised.
The legislation was signed into law by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on March 29 and was set to take effect last week. Its enforcement has been delayed as the result of a legal challenge from the online classifieds site, Backpage.com, which is owned by Village Voice Media. Backpage.com has sued the state and county attorneys general in federal court.
EFF filed a motion on Thursday seeking to intervene in the case on behalf of Internet Archive, a digital library that archives Web content.
Both Backpage and Internet Archive assert in their filings that they do not condone underage prostitution, but they argue that the law should not punish online service providers.
"At its core, this lawsuit is about the ability of the state of Washington to impose liability on online service providers for hosting and disseminating content created by third parties," the Internet Archive motion reads.
The law "will force, by threat of felony prosecution, websites and others to become the government's censors of users' content," Backpage alleges in its challenge.
Holding online service providers liable runs contrary to the immunity carved out in the federal Communications Decency Act, specifically in Section 230, both suits assert.
"The appropriate way to combat illegal speech online is to prosecute the people who are engaged in bad conduct," said Matt Zimmerman, a senior staff attorney at EFF.
In a joint statement on Backpage's suit, the law's sponsor, Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a Seattle Democrat, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn called the classifieds site "an 'accelerant' of the commercial sexual exploitation of children."
"We know, based on the experience of multiple online and print forums for escort services, that the only way to be sure that Backpage.com isn't being used to sell children for sex is to verify the ages of the people advertised on their site," the two said.
Internet Archive is seeking to intervene in the suit because Backpage doesn't adequately represent its interest in the case, Zimmerman said. For example, the website may opt to settle with the state in order to avoid prosecution or may not adequately pursue the aspects of the law that are of most concern to the Internet Archive.
Internet Archive "wants to get the court to fully engage and fully evaluate the legality" of the state's move to hold service providers liable, Zimmerman said.
The next hearing in the case is set for July 20, when the judge will decide whether to turn the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction that would remain in effect while the case is argued.
Tennessee has already passed a law similar to Washington's. New York and New Jersey are considering similar legislation.
Cameron Scott covers search, web services and privacy for The IDG News Service. Follow Cameron on Twitter at CScott_IDG.
Source: www.pcadvisor.co.uk
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