GUWAHATI, Aug 7: They did not even spare Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. When Mukherjee was busy at an important meeting, his telephone started ringing, and when he received the call, an agent of a financial institution from the other end offered him a house loan. An annoyed Mukherjee had to hand over his telephone to one among those accompanying him. One of the doyens of industry, Mukesh Ambani, too received such calls for house loan from financial institutions.
There has been a communication revolution in the country with mobile phone connection becoming simpler, but the revolution has its own cost for people to pay. Besides mental torture, many have become victims of frauds who deceive people through this medium. The youths, considered the future of the country, have also been going astray as a section of them has fallen prey to frauds who lure them towards immoral activities.
Mobile phone is used for personal communication. However, thanks to the companies that are out to mint money, it has become the easiest and shortest medium for frauds to lure their customers. The number of messages that comes from fraudulent companies and rackets is increasing by the day. While some of the messages are meant for earning lakhs of rupees, some are for winning lottery prizes. While some messages offer helping hands in setting up a friendship network with girls, others offer opportunities for passing time with foreign models by browsing the internet. While most of the people do not pay any heed to such mobile messages, some have been badly trapped. Some have already gone bankrupt.
Some of such messages read: “You have won a sum of 7,00,000 pounds from the Irish International Prom. For claims, contact Mr ... James via email...”
“Kijiye batein, female age 19, chat 126 I.D 126... Female age 20. You have to pay Re 1 per minute.”
“Enjoy beautiful European models at http//10...”
Numerous such messages keep coming to mobile phones, much to the irritation of many receivers.
Such a message came to a person in upper Assam. Thanks to the attraction of two billion pounds, the man fell in the trap laid by some frauds. Without making any prior inquiry, the man contacted the number that he was asked to dial. On the other end, a lady told the person that she wanted to hand over him everything she had (more than two billion pounds), but to make that possible by following the formal procedure, he should send Rs 2 lakh. Without wasting any time, the man sent the money, but after that there is no response from the other end as yet. He has been cheated in the easiest way. This is just an example. There are many who have fallen prey to such frauds. With the hope of getting lakhs of rupees, many have gone bankrupt.
If one dials numbers that offer opportunities for starting friendship with young women, the call will be connected to a computerized system, and after that the caller has to follow a series of directives for dialling a series of telephone numbers that take not less than 20 minutes, but even then the caller may not get the girl on the other end. Even if he gets her, he will have to cough up at the rate of Re 1 per minute or more right from his first dial. This is the way how people lose their precious time and hard-earned cash in this age of mobile phone boom.
What is even more dangerous is that the
GenNext is going astray. Many of them are busy with mobile phones and the internet. Many of them have been hankering after easy money and illicit sex, and their guardians have no control over them.
On the other hand, some mobile companies have also started to torture people in the name of offering newer ring tones. Quite often when a person responds to a mobile phone call, he hears a song on the other end. He may not be interested in any of these things. But that is not the concern for mobile phone companies. These companies have also no respect for the valuable time of their subscribers. (SENTINELASSAM)
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