American cyber lover caught in Delhiite’s net
From Kalyan Ray
Source: DECCAN HERALD
Date: October 13, 2003
Call it a case of gullibility or being completely floored by one of the most beautiful faces in the world, but New Mexico’s Ken Corley is at a loss. The American citizen has complained to Delhi Police to locate the woman who, he said, had stolen his heart only to dupe him.
On the net, Mr Corley met Anita Chowdhury who claimed to be a Delhi resident. They chatted, became friends and when Mr Corley wanted to see her photographs, Anita — claimed to be a teacher in an English medium school — promptly sent images of beauty queen Aishwarya Rai.
Overwhelmed by Aish’s photographs, Mr Corley asked Anita to visit the US. She said that she didn’t have enough money. He sent $ 1,400 (almost Rs 64,000) to a Delhi address and never heard anything from her.
Though based on Mr Corley’s complaint, Delhi Police has begun its efforts to track down the person who had duped the resident of New Mexico, cyber crime experts felt that the job is as difficult as to spot the proverbial needle in a haystack.
“If the woman had used a domestic computer then it may be possible to trace the computer from the IP address. But in case she used a cyber cafe, it is virtually impossible,” cyber crime expert and Supreme Court lawyer Pavan Duggal told Deccan Herald.
Since the IT Act did not address the increasing menace of net-cheating and fraud, India should sign the European convention on cyber crime that could provide a legal framework to deal with such crimes, he said. Forty-three nations including USA, Japan and South Africa have signed the convention that allows discussing cyber crime strategies among themselves.
He cited a case that happened recently in Mumbai when an Abu Dhabi-based Bengali man fell in love with a Mumbai woman on the net. After a few months of cyber love, the man was told that the woman had committed suicide out of grief, as she was unable to see him.
What happened next was plain blackmailing. The man started receiving mails from one of the friends of the woman accusing him of being responsible for the suicide. She threatened to sue him if US $ 1.5 million was not paid to her. The threat mails were followed by e-mails from a West Bengal-based police station and Calcutta High Court.
Exasperated, the Abu Dhabi man contacted police officials in Mumbai and found that everything was the handiwork of a person who first posed as the woman and issued all love and subsequent threat mails. “One should not put too much of trust on net friendship,” advised Mr Duggal.
Original article
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