The arrest of an American this week for using Covid-19 relief funds to purchase a Lamborghini car costing a reported $233,337 (Rs 1.74 crore) showcases how even adversity is transformed into opportunity by the unscrupulous.

The victim of the fraud in this case was the US government and the arrested man is alleged to have filed five applications under the Federal Paycheck Protection Program to different banks, claiming that he employed dozens of people.

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Two banks deposited money into his account, a sum of about S1.7 million in all, with which the man is alleged to have gone on a spending spree, buying in addition to the luxury car, a pick-up truck, a Rolex watch, a lease for a luxury apartment and liquor, besides entertaining himself at strip clubs.

But it isn’t governments alone that are vulnerable. Highlighting the vulnerability of people to fraud, the consulting firm KPMG put out an advisory recently telling Indians how to be cautious about fraud.

The report highlighted several areas of possible fraud that individuals and businesses need to be careful about ~ sales and distribution, covering artificial inflation of prices and sale of damaged, expired or counterfeit products; fake online sales; kickbacks to ensure procurement of products hit by lockdowns or import restrictions; cyber frauds due to increased remote working, and reduced focus on compliance that triggers contravention of laws.

Many other kinds of fraud have also been reported in the country, and among the most pernicious is the misuse of the Loan Moratorium scheme under the guise of which scamsters elicit banking details of the victim.

Not even the PMCares Fund has been spared, and there are reports of identical IDs having been created by fraudsters to attract digital payments.

Europol has identified several risks, which it says are illustrative and not comprehensive. Besides bogus websites and fake apps, the European police organisation has cautioned against fake investment opportunities that are related to Covid-19 and “money muling”, whereby fake healthcare organisations and NGOs employ people to canvass donations against a commission.

Sadly, authorities in India do not appear to have done enough to caution citizens about this new class of crime. Except for a short slide on its website warning people against revealing bank card numbers, verification codes and PIN numbers, the nodal Ministry of Consumer Affairs appears to have gone into hibernation during the crisis.

Certainly, there is little evidence that the ministry is aware of the phenomenon of Covid frauds or has taken any steps to curb them. Indeed, the last press release disclosed on the ministry’s website was issued in January 2019, which tells its own tale.

As people reel under the onslaught of an unprecedented economic slump, with incomes compromised and savings depleted, it is important for the Government to take measures to protect them from fraud.