A surprise in disguise, indeed

A surprise in disguise, indeed

Door to door delivery scam

Mr. Singh, a retired Army general residing in Delhi spends most of his time tending to his lavish garden, reading books, meeting old friends over a drink and travelling along with his wife Ramneet. After getting their only daughter married a few years back, the Singh couple spends relaxed moments with friends and family. Their daughter’s annual visit from Canada brings in all the cheer and happiness in the Singh household.

With just a few days to Mr. Singh’s 75^th birthday, phone calls, cards and gifts were pouring in from every corner of the world. A certain gentleman called up Mr. Singh to inform, that a package had arrived which was awaiting to be delivered at the Singh residence. On the other hand, very discreetly Mrs. Singh had planned for a surprise Birthday party and had invited a few close family and friends at a nearby Club. On Monday morning, while Mr. Singh was busy tending their garden along with the gardener, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Singh opened the door to a person wearing a uniform of a reputed courier company with a package in his hand. On enquiring, the courier boy had asked for Mr. Singh, as his signature was mandatory to hand over the package which contains a bottle of wine. Mr. Singh, who had overheard the conversation, appeared at the door and was curious to know the sender of the package. The delivery boy said that he was a mere delivery man and didn’t know the name and address of the sender. The delivery boy then explained that, there was a Rs 257.50 "delivery/ verification charge", providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor. As this sounded logical to Mr. Singh, he offered to pay the said amount by cash. The delivery boy further explained that he had to adhere to certain policies set by the company thus the payment had to be made in either a credit or a debit card only and not cash, so that everything is properly accounted for audit purpose.

Ramneet Ji, by then was already there at the door with the credit card and a smile. The delivery boy swiped the card on a small mobile card machine and asked Mr. Singh to key in the verification code. Mr. Singh did the needful in a jiffy as he was extremely anxious to open the package and unveil the name of the sender. The delivery boy handed over the receipt instantly and rushed off for his next delivery.

To the Singh couple’s utter disappointment, the sender’s name was not written anywhere on the package. Life carried on, Ramneet ji though confused, but was happy thinking that, in life surprises come in small packages and treated it to be a surprise trailer to the grand 75^th Birthday. The real surprise shook the Singh couple when on the following Thursday, Mr. Singh received a few alert messages from his bank stating certain withdrawals and debits amounting to Rs. 1.50 lacs. The Singh couple was taken aback, to their utter shock they couldn’t react nor communicate as they were left traumatized with the incident.

Apparently the "mobile credit card machine," which the delivery boy carried, had all the information recorded, necessary to create a "dummy” card with all the card details and not to forget the verification code too.

On informing their daughter, Preeti in Canada, she instructed them to notify the bank and immediately request to stop payment, but it was already too late. Mr. Singh’s brother accompanied him to the closest Police station to lodge a complaint, on which they were informed that similar cases had happened in their area in the recent past.

Thus, surprises which often come in small packages, should be avoided. May the general mass be alert and avoid such unpleasant surprises which hamper your life. Always be alert and cautious while receiving packages. Swipe cards only if you have initiated a payment yourself.

Now you can be doubly sure of a delivery boy on Pehechano  or use the Android App. Companies can safeguard their reputation and also indemnify themselves from such impersonating fraudsters.

- Sanchita

Safety first, convenience later

Sneha, a 29 year old lady from Kolkata, is a proud homemaker and a mother to 2year old Ishaan. Rittwick, Sneha’s husband has a very hectic professional life and his job demands touring for 10 days in a month. Rittwick’s frequent touring, thus absence from home has increased Sneha’s proficiency in both indoor as well as outdoor work. Life is hectic for Sneha too, as she single handedly manages the toddler without any nanny or help, runs errands for the home and also takes care of her in laws and parents who live in the same city. Every trip to the closest mall for buying stuff takes at least half a day and she returns back home to an unattended child and incomplete work. With the paucity of time, Sneha has taken resort to Online shopping for grocery, garments, diapers and other daily needs for the toddler to save time, energy and money. 

One fine quiet afternoon when the kid was deep asleep, Sneha decided to catch upon her best friend from school Tania, who was in town for a couple of days. In the meanwhile the doorbell rang, Sneha checked through the eye hole of the door to find a familiar face. Tamal who is employed with a leading logistics company had come to deliver some stuff that Sneha had ordered a few days back over an online shopping portal. Tamal, who has been catering to K.K.Chatterjee street area, for a long time now, was a friendly boy in his late twenties.  Sneha was relieved to find the diapers and baby food for her child arrive on time. Sneha entered her bedroom to fetch her purse to pay off the Cash on Delivery charges for the goods that she had ordered.

To her utter surprise she returned back to the living room to see Tamal seated in the sofa checking on the murals with the door closed behind him. Even before Sneha could scream and gather the neighbours to her house, Tamal was trying to make an advance towards Sneha. In the meanwhile the doorbell rang, hearing which Tamal pounced on the money in Sneha’s hand and unlatched the door to run pushing Tania aside, who was at the door. Tania had come to meet Sneha for a while, her best pal from school. Sneha was traumatised for a while and hugged Tania and sobbed inconsolably. It was her dear friend Tania, who had saved Sneha from a major mishap in life. Sneha described the entire episode to Tania. Tania was awestruck at the incident and immediately suggested her to download the Pehechano App and upload all the available details of Tamal on the portal, so as to caution others hiring or interacting with Tamal in future and are aware of his instincts. Sneha immediately contacted the helpline of the logistics company and informed them about the incident. The company had co-operated in giving Tamal’s photo and ID card, so that Sneha could upload on the Pehechano site and help employers and customers equally before employing Tamal in future.

Download the PEHECHANO app today!!

Gas Leak Check

Gopal was sitting in one corner of his house trying to reconcile with what had happened to his mother a few days ago.

It was the day when Gopal had gone out leaving his seventy-nine-year-old mother alone at home. This was not the first time that his mother Lakshmi stayed alone. They were veterans in that area and virtually every neighbour knew them well.

Around 11:00 AM, she heard the gate to her house open and saw a person in Khaki uniform enter the compound. He walked across the portico and knocked on the door. Cautious that she was, she peeped through the grilled window adjacent to the door and asked who it was. 

"Gas leak check madam," replied the man in Khaki.

"I have not complained about any leak," replied Lakshmi boldly

"Regular periodic check madam, I will take only two minutes," replied the man.

Having seen him in the gas agency down the road, she believed him and opened the door to let him in. He was carrying a leather bag which she assumed had the necessary tools for performing the check.

She was shocked when he pulled out a big knife from the bag and threatened her even as she tried raising an alarm.

Gopal returned a few hours later only to find his mother lying in a pool of blood, the gold ornaments on her body missing and the steel Almira wide open. 

All the residents in the locality gheraoed the gas distributor who himself was shell shocked. He produced all the copies of the identity proof the culprit has submitted while joining the agency, to the police. During their course of investigating the police found the identity proofs submitted, to be dubious. That man had submitted fake identification.

That is when the distributor learnt from one of his friends who also was in the same business about Pehechano, the portal where the identity of an individual can be verified. He immediately got all his staff registered on that portal and whenever they were sent on errands, an SMS indicating the Pehechano ID of the person attending was sent to the customer. The residents were satisfied that they could, from then on, verify the identity of the person before letting him or her, in. If only the distributor had known about Pehechano earlier, Gopal's mother would not have lost her life.

Reducing risk of outsourced hires

Pehechano – An online platform to facilitate convergence of individual’s identity with a focus on safety for people utilizing their services.

Pehechano is NEITHER a background verification service NOR a job portal.

Then what is it?

It is a repository for biometric based individual identities with easy access to stakeholders, thus providing employment traceability.

When a delivery boy, service technician or a person who provides on-site services visits a household, especially where vulnerable people (elderly, women or children) reside, it is important that the residents are fully convinced about the identity of the individual(s) visiting them. There are numerous instances of heinous crimes committed by such contract employees on this helpless section of our community. There are also reports of misconducts carried out by escorts (school bus conductors, ayahs, domestic help, and security personnel) towards children thereby abusing the trust of their employers. Once an incident occurs, these people disappear and seek employment with a different identity at some other location, sometimes in the same city. The online platform enables sharing of identity and certain essential credentials between primary & secondary employers, and law enforcement agencies.

The following are the major stakeholders, covered under the platform:

•  Cab & School Bus Drivers
•  Security Personnel
• Housekeeping Staff
• Courier Boys & Delivery Staff
•  Onsite Healthcare Givers
• Sales personnel (Door to Door, Showroom, Retail Outlets)
• Bill Collectors & Cashiers
• Field Staff – Support & Service Technicians (AMC & Installation Technicians, Electricians, Plumbers, Delivery boys etc.)

The primary focus is on traceability of such employees in the event of disappearance following an incident. If there is a cause for suspicion, technology is embedded to trace and track movements. The platform also provides an alerting system for suspicious individuals.

The process enables primary employers or manpower supplying agencies providing security personnel and housekeeping staff to establishments, travel agencies offering charter services for cabs & buses, courier agencies employing personnel to pick up and deliver etc. to keep a tab on their employees and  by reducing attrition. (Absconding cases are flagged)

                                     

The secondary employers to benefit from this platform are corporates, apartment/housing complexes, schools & colleges requisitioning services from the above primary employers.

The platform helps genuine and scrupulous employees to establish their credibility and be above suspicion.

"The whole concept will facilitate our society in its efforts to become crime free”