A night at the Oprah
There really is one born every minute, and Indian fraudsters don't just prey on gullible westerners. Oh no, there are plenty of their own citizens who're uneducated, credulous, or desperate enough to fall for the most ludicrous of scams. In this case, working as a stud.
The scam works like this. The, ahem, eager applicant
is offered the role of impregnating childless women in exchange for payment, as if any woman in her right mind would choose a gullible berk as her baby daddy. For his part, all the prospective sire has to do is settle a few up-front administrative costs to get the ball rolling, after which the scammer vamooses with a jovial so long, sucker!
The problem is, cyber law expert Pavan Duggal explains, that people in India, "are by and large very trusting and rarely do an independent verification of information on the internet", bolstered by an overconfidence in their safety. However, the methodology of the scam in Nawada, he says, "is very novel". "The scammers lured them with promise of free money and free sex which is a deadly combination. In situations like these, prudence often takes a backseat."
Geeta Pandey, BBC News
You said a mouthful there, Mr Duggal!
One dispirited applicant, a labourer, who was willing to talk directly with the BBC's Geeta Pandey, lost the equivalent of a month's wages. He told her: My wife is very angry and no longer speaks to me.
No shit! He didn't elaborate as to whether her anger was directed at his frittering away a month's salary; wanting to shag other women; or being dumbarsed enough to think he'd get paid for it. What's the worst of the three evils?
He shared a Pregnancy Verification Form
relating to a Baby Birth Agreement
, bearing his name and photo, and the signature of the expectant mother. A document verifying the pregnancy of a woman he'd never met, from a transaction
that he never took part in. (hmmm)
He's impoverished, poorly educated, and lives in a backwater. So he's probably never even heard of Oprah Winfrey, much less blessed her with the fruit of his loins! (LOL)
Pregnancy Verification Form(L), and Oprah Winfrey's signature (R).