I just read a piece of news that the Gujarat Police have uncovered a network involving more than five hundred thousand fake Gmail accounts.
Great job, Gujarat Police!
Half a million fake accounts is no small achievement. It requires intelligence, patience and the ability to distinguish between a real person and an imaginary one.
Now that they have developed such expertise, I wonder whether they could take up another little assignment.
No need to travel outside Gujarat. No need to examine five hundred thousand accounts. No need for sophisticated computers, international cooperation or sleepless nights.
Just find one account.
“What sort of account?” asks the investigating officer.
“A school account, perhaps.”
“Only one?”
“Yes.”
“That should be easy.”
“And after that, maybe a graduate account.”
The officer pauses.
“And then?”
“A postgraduate account.”
He slowly removes his cap, wipes his forehead and asks for additional security.
“You are asking us to investigate three accounts?”
“No, no,” I tell him. “They may all belong to the same person.”
“Whose name?”
“Ah, that is what you must discover. You found five hundred thousand fake Gmail accounts. Surely finding one student cannot be more difficult.”
The officer looks nervous.
“Were these qualifications used to send bomb threats?”
“No.”
“Then what is the danger?”
“They may have helped someone rise very high.”
“How high?”
“So high that questioning the certificates could cause an explosion greater than any bomb threat.”
The poor man retreats into his office.
I wait outside while files are opened, phones ring and instructions arrive from places considerably higher than the postgraduate degree in question.
Finally, he returns.
“We have completed our preliminary investigation.”
“That was quick. What did you discover?”
“We discovered that the Gmail accounts were easier.”
The tragedy of our times is that technology can expose half a million digital ghosts, but institutions sometimes become shortsighted when asked to examine one living individual. A fake email address is treated as a national danger. A questionable educational claim becomes a matter of national delicacy.
Perhaps the police should use the same methods.
Send a verification email to the university.
“Dear Sir, did this student attend your institution?”
If the message bounces back, investigate.
If the records disappear, investigate faster.
If the answer arrives completely blacked out, remove your cap, salute and quietly return to the Gmail accounts.
We ordinary citizens must produce certificates for everything. To get a job, we need marksheets. To open an account, we need identification. To enter some buildings, we need proof that our grandmother once knew the watchman.
But the higher one climbs, the less proof appears necessary.
So congratulations again to the Gujarat Police for finding half a million frauds.
Now please find the courage to look for just one…!