Pls use caution and common sense - IMP PLS READ - U COULD BE NEXT

[madbullram]

Dear all,
I am writing this with some bitter taste. I have heard these incidents in US but now to hear that it happened to my best buddy makes me sit straight and think.

For obvious reasons, I am not naming him. Lets call him Mr.E (Enthu bugger that he is). He is majorly into gaming and you will see him a lot active in Techenclave and most of the forums and so on. At 25, this guy is full of energy and world at his feet. Goes out of his way to help anyone. His posts are always well thought out, informative, and does everything that he can. Infact, thats how i became a friend to him when I had gone to his house to check out a Graphic Card he had sourced from US even before it hit US market. We instantly hit off and became very close friends. You get his profile right, not going to go more into detail. He is like many in our forum and similar to Venkat CR when it comes to explanation and help.

Two tuesdays before, he gets a PM from a member saying he loves his rig and would love to meet him. So Mr.E, as always, promptly responds and send his number and asks him to call up. They chit chat on phone and the member introduces himself as a Team Lead in a reputed call center. So they decide to hook up on friday evening for a session on Audio and Gaming as both are into it. The member checks with Mr.E if he can get his girl friend along as she also loves this. Mr.E the gracious person he is says, yes buddy pls do. My GF also will be there so we can have family jam. So all set.

Friday:
The member calls Mr.E and arrives at his place sans his girl friend. Mr.E welcomes and they get talking of stuff. The member says his GF will join in an hour as she is completing some person work. The member gives them tropicana apple and KF beer. They get talking and Mr.E talks about his childhood and how his dad is US and no mother and enjoying life here. His GF, very nice girl, also gets into the conversation and talk about their planned marriage etc and serving chats to them.

They all have the Beer and apple juice and some snacks.

Saturday morning 7 am:
Mr.E wakes up to find all his belongings gone, money rigs everything. Still dizzy and his GF still unconscious, rushes to hospital. They have been sedated with a drug but nothing serious. They get treated in OP and are back home.

The harsh reality is everything gone, rigs, money, LCDs laptop etc etc.

The girl is in shock, she is still not out of it and is under psychiatric treatment. She is recovering well and both have moved to Chennai now as we are all here and its easy for them to get back to life. Mr.E has no smile on his face, is always silent now, we are doing our best to get him back to life.

I am little happy with this, why?
1. They stole just the money and stuff
2. The girl was not touched, u know what all could have happened in this MMS crazy world
3. Both are alive with no injuries nothing though the internal ones are something we all are fighting with them

Now, why I narrate this here:
1. We have many members here similar to Mr. E, who invite people home for audition
2. We have many members here who goes to someone's house to check their gear

We all have done that BUT pls pls pls ensure you use caution and common sense before you invite someone or visit someone.

• Do not invite/visit a newbie.
• Be sure that you know about the person
• Meet at a common place first
• Do use due diligence first
• If you invite someone home, ensure you have a crowd and not just you and your family.

Sorry about the long post, I will be heart wrenched to see something like this happen to my fellow HFVians.

Its good to help, pls ensure by helping you dont end up needing HELP!

Update:
1. The intension of this thread is to make everyone aware of such dangers so we are aware of it.
2. Do not ask me for who it is. He is not a HFV member
3. Thanks for your PMs, I don't need contacts in police/detective agencies.
4. Read this thread as an informative post
5. Instead of telling what needs to be done (call cops etc), it will be more useful if you can list your experience or tell what you think are ways we can avoid it.

 

[thekinge]

Hi madbullram,

Thanks for taking the time and posting this for us. I sincerely appreciate your concerns towards fellow HFV members. I think as you mentioned one should always use common sense and trust their own instincts.

Thanks again.

Regards,
thekinge

 

[KonfuSed]

Oh my God!! This is shocking. Can't believe this happened in India. Gotta be real careful and probably this is the reason many people prefer to stay anonymous in the Forum. Thanks for posting, would be extra careful in future.

 

[madbullram]

Trust me guys, I am still not able to digest the totally lifeless face he has now. He keep s telling me "How can I be so naive and put my GF in such a dangerous position!". The girl is actually taking it better now.

Hopefully, time will heal him. Do pray for his recovery if you can. Though I am a hindu, I lit a candle in Besant Nagar Church while driving back.

 

[dranil]

Thanks for the info.

 

[venkatcr]

Terrible. Thankfully, I have been fortunate till now not to have met any such person. I have to be more careful in the future.

Cheers

 

[sachin_k5]

This is really concerning. I normally ensure someone in my family always knows the exact address of wherever i am going. Looks like the crooks are using the internet as a new channel to cheat in real life.

I agree with Ram when he says meet e-friends in crowds...so ensure 1 or more other member is also present when having a meeting.

We shall pray for his quick recovery. All is well that ends well.

 

[buswal]

thanks mbr, for the useful post.

cheers

 

[captrajesh]

That is really sad. I had just returned from Bangalore and met up many including those members who were unfamiliar to me.

They all went out of the way to accommodate my visit in their busy schedules.

But this comes across as quite scary.

 

[madbullram]

Exactly captain, as we meet these beautiful souls we tend to forget that there are demonic inceptions in this world and we drop our guard at the wrong time.

@Vekat: The first person who came to mind was you. I know you are cautious and vigilant BUT pls pls pls be more cautious, the last person i want to see hurt!

 

[harryanthony]

this is so shocking.... i am finding it hard to digest the fact....
thank you for this post and for bringing us in terms with the real world... i hope your friend recovers soon... like you said in a way i am happy for both of them..

 

[madbullram]

@all: As a favour, pls send this post link to anyone who you know should read it (HFV members and anyone else). You can also help by sending an email on this to yours friends so that our near and dear ones are aware of this.

I have posted in other forums I frequent like T-Bhp. Pls feel free to post this in any forum you think this would be informative. I have no problem

 

[vivek.saikia]

Shocking it is!! Your friend must have been devastated.

Lucky I was that I never came across such dubious HFV members, though I have done many deals with the HFV members just by talking over the phone and taking their HFV membership for credibility.

MadBullRam please unveil the name of that crook, so that all become aware

 

[kapvin]

@all: As a favour, pls send this post link to anyone who you know should read it (HFV members and anyone else). You can also help by sending an email on this to yours friends so that our near and dear ones are aware of this.

I have posted in other forums I frequent like T-Bhp. Pls feel free to post this in any forum you think this would be informative. I have no problem

@madbullram,

thank you for posting this! Thank god that it was only money & stuff, and your right, it could have been far worse! we tend to work on trust and this kind of incident shatters your basic belief in a fellow human being.

While i am sure your friend is looking for closure, and i's easy say sitting far away, it may not be too difficult to track the culprit down, especially given that most sites log ip addresses. if your friend does not, there may be someone else at risk tomorrow, and perhaps somethign worse happens

best wishes and thank your again for sharing this

 

[madbullram]

@Vivek/Kapvin: I understand what you guys are saying, in the current state my friend does not want to press charges. I dont have the heart to sit and try talking to him to get police involved in this. I also fear it might lead to further harassment sometimes bcos of the cops. When he is in a normal state, will discuss with him.

But what I can do is share this info, which is exactly what I have done.

Will appreciate if we dont discuss more on how to catch the culprit, police etc as it will side track the issue now. Pls bear with me on this.

 

[sam9s]

Damm that was shocking ..... but what I am surprised is that the dude did not go to the police .... what ever or how so ever incompetent or stupid our police is, tha fact is .......this all we have got and we have to take some action from our part to at-least try and bring justice ...... just by sitting and thinking what the hell our police can do or "chalo jo hoona tha ho gaya" ..... does not and will solve anything ...... this seems to be a big robbery , police had to be involved ....I read they hook up on phone, that could have given some lead ... I dont know.... but the point it sitting idle and doing nothing is just crap, timorous and chickening ..........

 

[KonfuSed]

Keeping in view of MBR's reply I'm removing my post as it serves no purpose. Frankly, if that's the case then probably the thread can be locked and moved as sticky for serving as information/warning (just a suggestion to avoid unnecessary comments).
Thanks,

 

[madbullram]

@Konfused/Sam: See my reply above and would appreciate we stick to the topic than passing judgement on what he should be doing. Its easy for me to tell him to go to Police trust me the mental state and depression he is in, I wouldn't even dare. We are doing what the doctors have asked to and that in specific not to discuss the topic to both of them for sometime. Wont explain anymore on this. However, be rest assured we are doing something without involving police and we are very sure to catch them.

The topic is not to discuss what needs to be done now but to ensure none of us get into such situation.

 

[unleash_me]

This is really unfortunate. Hope your friends regain their cheerful enthusiasm and get back to being normal soon.

But, at the risk of coming across sans empathy, any word of consolation will only help him reinforce his realization of his folly and short sightedness. Not only did he invite a stranger to his home but also have his girlfriend host this guy with drinks. Even though not excusable, a noob to forum concepts can still fall for this (understandably) but not from someone like your friend who, I presume, is well versed in the ways of online social networks. This is unacceptable.

I made similar remarks sometime back when our own Manu had put up pictures of his entire family, friends, house and even his dog on the forum, irrc. As innocent as he might be, that could have been an open invitation to social deviants (and perverts) out there. In spite of few obvious exceptions as always, one shouldn't try to substitute social life with online forums. You can never be sure about the real intentions of a person who hides behind a funny avatar and posts dearly comments.

As rightly intended by MBR, hope this would provide an opportunity for others to re-evaluate their interactions online and explore its possible unfortunate consequences before posting their living/bed room (setups) online and (even worse) extending premature invitations to complete strangers into their lives.

Peace.

 

[svenkateshsmart]

Hi,

Firstly, thank you Ram for this info. I have already mailed it along with the link to most of my friends. I think we had already tasted a bit of this a few months back, but that was not anything compared to this!

Yes, I have always wondered about this forum and its members for their generosity and trust, but I have always found it reasonable to maintain a certain degree of precaution.

I must say that you are back with a bang and really appreciate your contribution as a mod!:clapping::clapping:

Cheers!