The online world is informative and inclusive but also fraught with risks. When an investment banking analyst from Mumbai wanted to pay for beers online, she was scammed of Rs.87,000. Many people have also been duped by fraudsters using the AnyDesk app. But one student in Ireland decided to trick a trickster and did a brilliant job of it!
Mail Online reports that Ross Walsh is a 22-year-old student at the University of Limerick. He received an email from Solomon Gundi asking for 1000 pounds (Rs. 86,000) in exchange for a 50% stake in his business which he shared on Facebook saying,
“Checked my spam again and was greeted again with another business proposal that caught my attention. Like the last 2 times, I wanted to waste their time so they don’t waste anyone else’s or before they prey on a vulnerable person.”
In his reply, he attached a fake transfer receipt and told the fraudster that he wanted to invest 50,000 pounds (Rs.43 lacs) in his promising business instead of a mere 1000 to bait him.
When the fraudster wrote to him saying that he hadn’t received the money, the clever student told him that the bank had flagged the recipient account. He further added that a small transfer of 25 pounds (Rs.2000) from the account will resolve the issue.
The fraudster believed this story and duly transferred the amount. Ross donated the entire sum to the Irish Cancer Society and forwarded the acknowledgment to the scammer!
BBC News quoted him saying, “I’ll always give it to a good cause to get use out of the money because, for all I know, that’s someone else’s money.”
The Solomon Gundi account has since been shut down so he hasn’t approached the police. This is the third time he’s donned the cap of an online vigilante and we’re loving the results.