Group of swindlers cheating rain-affected people

"I have sent a money order of Rs 2,000 on the address of a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) of Karachi but they have not sent me the application form for funding of Rs 80,000," a rain-affected person told Business Recorder on telephone. A 45-year-old Ghulam Nabi Mallah, doing a labour job and residing in a rural area of the Badin district, which was badly affected during the recent heavy rains, has lost his Rs 2,000 in the name of funding for rain-affected people.
Mallah said that he was tricked by a lady, who telephoned him and told him his name, father's name, caste, age and his complete address and asked him to send a money order of Rs 2,000 rupees. There are some groups of swindlers including men and women, operating from big cities through telephone, who are engaged in cheating the innocent people of the rain-affected areas in the name of funding.
Interestingly, the lady swindlers, who contact the rain-hit persons, have all basic records of the affected people. Mallah said that a lady namely Saima, told him that she was the funding officer of an NGO which according to her was working to financially support the people of rain-affected areas and if he (Ghulam Nabi Mallah) would send her the money order of Rs 2,000, she would send him an application form, on the basis of which he would be eligible for Rs 80,000 funding.
"She has not sent me the form and her mobile number has also been off since many days," he added. Mallah is not the only person who has sent a money order to the lady (Saima) but there are many others who also joined him on his advice. Another lady has also reportedly cheated people in the same manner in Dadu district, where some 22 persons of a village namely Dale Ji Miynai of Taulka Khairpur Nathan Shah, have sent money orders of Rs 5,000 each on the address of an NGO in Islamabad.
Khairpur Nathan Shah is a Taulka of Dadu district, which was completely submerged by the rain water. Liaqat Rustmani, a social worker of the village told Business Recorder on telephone that a lady who told her name as Asia Gul telephoned him and told that "she is an officer in an NGO namely Pakistan Helping Hand of Islamabad". She asked me to send bank drafts of Rs 10,000 per family on the name of the NGO. But finally, she agreed on Rs 5,000 per family and we sent her Rs 110,000," he added.
"Later, she sent us 22 application forms which we filled and sent her back in the mid of September 2011, but there is no reply from the lady yet," Rustmani said. He requested this scribe to raise the issue in media so that the government could help the victims in recovery of their money. When contacted other rain-hit persons, it was found that there are many other cases like Ghulam Nabi Mallah and Liaqat Rustmani.