Odisha crime branch alerts SPs about fake job portal
BHUBANESWAR: The state crime branch has flagged the police about some anonymous cyber frauds, who have created a dubious website and cheated youth on the pretext of giving them jobs in IT companies in the country and abroad. Crime branch said the website (www.shinejob.tech) was hosted on a German server.
In an advisory to the deputy commissioners of police in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and superintendents of police (SPs) in districts, the crime branch described the modus operandi of the cyber accused and asked the police to launch awareness campaigns in their areas to prevent gullible job seekers from falling in the trap of the conmen.
Sources said some youth, who lost their jobs during the lockdown, were taken for a ride after browsing through the website. At least five persons saw fraudulent withdrawal of thousands of rupees from their accounts after they paid the processing charge of only Rs 10 each on the e-payment gateway of the bogus company.
“We found that the company’s IP address was linked to Germany. In most likelihood, the cyber frauds would be operating from any Indian city but they hosted the website on a German server provider,” a Crime Branch officer said.
The portal has different webpages, offering IT-related jobs. “When the user accesses the website, he or she is directed to submit the CV and other details. Then the user will be directed to pay only Rs 10 as processing fee. Unsuspecting applicants would proceed in making the online payment by giving them card numbers and CVV. Then the user will find error in the payment gateway,” the advisory said.
The probe agency said the frauds would hack the card and CVV numbers and withdraw money from the accounts of the users. The advisory said job seekers should properly verify the credentials of the websites before making any e-payments.
IT expert Prashant Sahu said a number of cyber criminals became active during the lockdown to cheat jobless youth, mostly students. “In most cases, the police lacked the technical know-how to trace the tech-savvy accused, who camouflaged and cheated people. Police should take the assistance of website hosting providers to trace the accused,” Sahu said.