Hyderabad City students turn fraudsters overseas

Earning easy money is a skill only a crafty few can boast of, and it seems Hyderabadi youngsters are experts at it. Their latest plan of action — go abroad on a student visa, take huge personal loans, blow up money on a luxe lifestyle and take the first flight home without repaying a penny.
In a recent case, Sunil Raman, a Hyderabadi who went to Australia to study, borrowed $ 10,000 (AUD), splurged on his high-end lifestyle, only to quietly finish his course and leave the country. He came here and cut his credit card and forgot all about the money he owed the OZ banks.
Sunil’s roommates back in Australia confess they still have to deal with credit card officials who come looking for him every now and then. This is not an isolated case though. Prasanth Kumar Dasri, an employee of a consultation firm, says such cases are known to happen quite often, especially in Australia. And Hyderabadi students are infamous for credit card and loan frauds. “Most offenders are students who don’t have long-term plans of working overseas. They dodge the cops and calls from banks while they are there, and once they come home they know they are safe.” Talking about one such case he says, “my cousin’s current flat mate in Australia instructed all his roomies to keep his whereabouts a secret if credit card company or bank authorities come asking for him.”
In fact, these frauds have become so common that many consultancy firms are now forced to not just screen city students carefully but also go to the extent of keeping regular tabs on them. Dasri adds, “In order to prevent such things from happening, our organisation now runs a thorough background check on the students we send. That’s not all, people from our organisation also make it a point to go over to the UK or wherever they are periodically to touch base with them and see what they are up to.”
While the notorious ones always get away, thanks to the loopholes in the law, it’s students in genuine need of loans who suffer. Cautious bankers wary of “blacklisted Indians” are now adopting stringent policies, when it comes to granting loans. Rudra Raju, a student in the UK says, “Thanks to a wicked few, loan amounts sanctioned are decreased now. they used to give as much as 25,000 pounds as loan to students who had good track record. it has been brought down to 5,000 now.” Speaking about how this is affecting the student community as a whole, he adds, “It is a shame that a few scheming students are tainting the reputation of India’s student community, making life difficult for students who genuinely need loans.”

source:Deccan chronicle