Extortion is becoming an increasingly complex phenomenon for those living in the capital as its dimension always keeps on changing. The people of this over populated city live their lives in the most unliveable conditions with fear and anxiety.
That armed muggers will snatch away money and valuables and pickpockets will steal money is very common in the city. The uncommon thing is that there are many other elements engaged in cheating people and to accomplish their jobs they do not always stick to the same tactics. They keep on innovating new ways to extort money or cheat innocent people.
Although there are many instances of extortion in the city, a few of these can be mentioned here. The female snake-charmers these days use snakes to cause fear among people and then extort money from them. Middle aged women harass young males on the road by way of blackmailing and extort money from them. Some people ask money for treatment purposes, others for marrying off their daughters. There are others who create melodramatic scenes in public places for some reason or other. The purpose in all cases is one and the same - extorting money in whatever way possible.
Nowadays, the all pervading social site Facebook has become very popular, and some people are using this as a silent means of extortion. They create events to help the poor or to manage funds for treatment of seriously ill people who are unable to bear the expenses themselves. But as has been found, most of the cases are devised by fraudsters to cheat people. There are people who give them benefit of the doubt and eventually succumb to their machinations.
Fraud and forgery through credit card, debit card, bank cheque or ATM has also increased in the city. Educated and skilled professionals with sound knowledge in technology are using their 'merit' in these fraudulent activities. They steal the card numbers and passwords by any means and then resort to what they are up to.
There are many facets of extortion and cheating, and commoners are always concerned whether they are safe or not. It is strange that in the twenty first century when so much of advancement has taken place in all spheres of human life, people of a mega city like Dhaka should be so vulnerable, as though they are under the spell of the criminals all the time. The government should take well thought-out measures to protect the city dwellers from the gang of fraudsters. Â
The writer is a banker.
 taher.ali@hotmail.com
Extortion and cheating in capital
Taher Ali | Published: December 06, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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