The Fraudster

Kakoli’s father was seated at the dining table sipping his tea as he scanned the headings of the daily English newspaper. Kakoli was a professor at a private university and her father was a retired engineer. He remarked as he turned the pages of the paper ”This country is going to the dogs. There is corruption everywhere from the grass-root level to the top. You cannot get anything done without donation and bribery. The rich are getting richer while the poor are dying.” Kakoli was brushing her hair and getting ready for university. She tied her hair in a braid and came to the dining room and hugged her father,” Dad we are not politicians or contractors so it does not affect us.” Her dad scoffed,” Of course, it affects everyone, you, me, Tina’s father living downstairs. More so these days as the cases of fraud are rising. In the last two months, sixty people have lost more than twenty lakhs combined due to robbery and online scams. Be very careful, don’t click on any link send from an anonymous source or answer any emails asking for your bank details.”

Kakoli’s father was a very careful man and difficult to cheat. He read the newspaper every day and kept himself abreast of all the happenings around him. He also had a group of very influential friends and before taking any decision he consulted with his group and peers. So Kakoli was very surprised when he got a frantic call from her father while she was preparing notes in the staffroom. Kakoli was taken aback to hear the high-pitched tone of his father,” Kakoli, you must come home immediately. I got a call from a person in the state electricity department saying if I did not pay the electricity bill by tomorrow the connection will be physically cut. The person has sent a link to my number and said to pay the bill immediately.”

Kakoli was alarmed too but tried to remain calm. She said “Don’t do anything right away. It could be a fraud like you said before. Login to your electricity bill online payment account and check whether any bill is due or it has been automatically deducted from your bank account as it does every month.” Kakoli’s father replied “Good thinking. I will do that. Thanks. Bye”

When Kakoli returned home in the evening her father was relaxing with another tea. When he saw her he smiled “You were right. The bill has been paid by auto-deduction from my bank account. I went to my friend Mr. Diwan who is a retired policeman and he said the call was a fraud. He looked at the link sent in the message and asked to delete the message. You are cool-brained and smart. Very good. Go inside and have some tea.” Kakoli smiled. The crisis had passed.