Credit card fraud victim gets money back

Ahmedabad: Pooja Darooka fell prey to a credit card fraud in 2009, where Rs 60,500 was siphoned off from her account. She had lost all hope of getting back the money. However, she approached the special adjudicator of Gujarat last year and to her surprise, the authority ordered that she be paid a compensation of Rs 85,000 by the accused. The decision came last month in the case that lasted 8 months.
The case became one of the points of discussion at the seminar on cyber crime and security. The topicality and applications of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and subsequent amendments to it were discussed by legal experts. They said that in next five years, the Act will see more amendments to keep abreast of the technological developments. Cyber law consultant Manan Thakker shared details of Darooka’s case. She was tricked into providing by her credit card details to Nainesh Modi and Darshan Rajput. She lost Rs 60,506 in four transactions made by the accused. They purchased car accessories and clothes, in addition to withdrawing money from ATMs. “The case was presented to the court of adjudicating officer in Gandhinagar where we applied for compensation of Rs 1 lakh. After hearing the case, the court ordered the duo to pay Rs 85,000. It is a big victory for us,” said Thakker. He added that there were enough clauses in the IT Act to cover almost every aspect of cyber crime.
Senior advocate Amee Yajnik, however, opined that there were number of roadblocks in successful implementation of the IT Act. “Along with the IT Act, there is a need for amendments in other relevant acts such as IPC and the Evidences Act. Moreover, lawyers find it difficult to make the judiciary understand concepts of cyber world. Judiciary and law enforcement agencies should be trained in cyber crime and laws,” she said.