Reporting a scam is a challenging
exercise. One needs to be vigilant, alert and flexible to the demands of the
investigative process. Cyber Police of different nations are taking vital steps
to ensure that people save time and energy in their efforts to report a scammer
and that speedy steps are taken for recovery. A complaint to Police is a very
important step in quashing cybercrime and this can yield results only if
victims:
Report
a scammer on time
In many cases, a delay to report a
scammer will make the whole exercise unfruitful. Time is the essence in the
case of important online scams like identity thefts and financial fraud. Any
delay to report a scammer will facilitate the fraudster to escape beyond the
effective reach of law. Once an identity theft has happened, victims must do
the following immediately:
➢ Take all attempts to ensure locking/ freezing of
all debit and credit cards as well as bank accounts which have been manipulated
➢ Changing passwords and PINs of all emails
accounts and existing cards, since the scammers may plan to strike again with
the available details.
➢ File complaints with various bodies like
Government law enforcers including FTC, Action Fraud and the FBI, private
internet forums like Scam Watch etc., for a multi-pronged attack against
scammers.
Get
a Police Report
A police report of the filed complaint is very crucial whenever victims decide to report a scammer. The
following steps need to be taken:
➢ Approach the local Police Department. Some
countries may have a special wing to handle cybercrime. For example it is the
Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit in UK and the Internet Crime Complaint
Center of the FBI in United States that must be approached to report a scammer
➢ It is very important to understand the
jurisdictions of Police. Otherwise,efforts to report a scammer will end in
futility.
➢ Some Police reports will require a legal
affidavit or affirmation in the prescribed format, for which one needs to take
the help of attorneys.
➢ The police may assign the complaint to one of
its investigating officers who will be in charge of the case.
The
Investigation Process
As a next step, the investigation
process begins. The Police, on strength of the evidence produced by the
complainant, begins high level scrutiny. The complainant may be asked for the
following details:
➢
Proof of address and identity
➢ A brief account of the internet crime and
circumstances under which it was committed
➢
Details of all financial transactions pertaining
to the deal
➢ Email trails, details of scam phone calls as
well as any other communication received from the scammers. In many cases, it
may also be required to file a complaint with the postal departments.
To report a scammer, victims need to
co-operate with the investigation process with patience, since it may take time
for Police to correlate things and issue a report. The Police department will
work in conjunction with various private and Government bodies to complete its
investigation process.
