How Punjabis Are Being Scammed
Now the first question you might ask is why these scams target Punhabis. According to the 2021-22 economic survey, Punjab ranks amongst India’s worst five states in terms of unemployment. In such a scenario, setting abroad is the best choice for the Punjabi youth. While rich Punjabi youth take the legal route of settling abroad, the youth from poor rural backgrounds that are the most desperate fall prey to the travel agents. In 2019, Jobandeep’s father passed away, and with the financial situation at his home worsening, he decided to move to Italy. He paid INR 800,000 to an agent and found a job managing animals in a stable.
But when he reached Italy, jobandeep found that the job had been offered to someone else because he had arrived late. Do you know what he did next? He became a farm worker. During the pandemic, the situation got so bad that Jogandeep suffered physically and mentally. Soon, Jogandeep’s family received a call from Italy and got to know that Jogandeep had committed suicide. Moreover, some women are sexually assaulted when they reach one of these European countries. For instance, in December 2021, three women left their village near the Punjabi town Kartarpur for Europe. Together, they paid about INR 15,00,000 to an agent to reach their destination.
Instead of the destination, they were sent to Greece, where they were sexually assaulted and held captive for two weeks. The Canadian police have booked 16 Punjabi men for over 140 offenses, including mail theft and fraud worth over $ 5000 following a week-long investigation. Official sources said that the investigation was carried out by the 21 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau of Peel Region Police which also included a probe into the forged document, possession of the stolen property, and possession of controlled substances.
According to the Canadian police, they began a multi-jurisdictional investigation in collaboration with Canada Post, Halton Regional Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, and numerous financial institutions last month after scrutinizing more than 100 reports of mail theft between January and April and discovering links to a group of individuals residing in Brampton.
So this was all about How Punjabis Are Being Scammed.