Estimated money that is involved is Rs. 20 crore; MGP meeting throws light on menace

Mysore/Mysuru: Cyber crimes are increasing due to lack of coordination among departments. It is difficult to break into the invincible fort of cyber crimes. Cyber crimes can be prevented only if people do not share their personal details with strangers. These were the suggestions given during the interaction with Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police at the monthly meeting of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) held at its premises in Yadavagiri here yesterday.

Following an increase in cyber crimes, MGP had organised the meeting to discuss ways to prevent cyber crimes, during which CEN Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar shared some important information.

Replying to a question put forth by an MGP Member, Anil Kumar said that there are more than 3,500 cyber crime cases registered in the city annually, which are difficult to crack. The estimated money that is involved in 3,500 cases touch  Rs. 20 crore. “Complaints pertaining to economic crimes are being registered at CEN Police Stations in the city and other districts. These cases are difficult to crack and the CEN Police are working hard to catch the accused,” the SI added.

He further said that in most cases, people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and northern States are involved. “The kingpins of these crimes stay in huge apartments and other places leading a posh life. It is difficult to nab the accused from these places,” he added.

“If a cyber crime is registered at the city’s CEN Police Station, the link to the case will be in North India. When our Police visit that State, they should seek help from the jurisdictional Police to trace and nab the accused,” Anil Kumar said besides providing information about non-clarity of law and legal issues in  solving these crimes.

The SI further said that there are 20 staff in the city’s CEN Police Station and added “Despite we work in city limits, only about 5 to 6 percent of cases  are being solved.”

People of all ages are targeted

Online fraudsters target people of all ages and professions by calling over the phone and introducing themselves by talking politely, Anil Kumar said, citing an example of victim Sathyaprakash, who had transferred Rs. 2 lakh to an online fraudster who had posed as an Army man. The SI also gave another example of another victim, who lost more than Rs. 50,000 after believing a message on Facebook.

Pointing out that many such cases come to light daily, he said that it has become a headache for the Police in solving such cases. In most cyber and economic crimes, people believe strangers and make online payments. It is only after a few days they realise that they have been duped. Anil Kumar added that lack of proper documents hampers their investigation. “When we write to a Bank and seek information about a particular case, we do not get correct information, which also delays the investigation.”

Need to create awareness

To prevent cyber crimes, the CEN Police across the State, as part of the investigation, through media or by holding conferences create awareness. Importantly, people should come forward to control cyber crimes by not providing their Bank account details to strangers and should give only their bank account numbers for financial transactions to people known to them. They should not give any other details such as their Debit Card number, One Time Password (OTP), etc., to anyone. Most of the fraud calls come from abroad,  Anil Kumar said.

Call Helpline number 1930

In case people come to know that they have been duped online, they should immediately call Helpline Number 1930 and lodge a complaint or visit the nearest Police Station and get an FIR registered, the SI suggested.

State Bank of India (SBI) retired Assistant General Manager (AGM) D.T. Venkatesh, CEN Police Station staff Shivakumar, MGP’s Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy, Prof. S. Shobhana, Venkatesh Kharidi, K. Sathyaprakash, V.S. Sathyaram, D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Vishwanath, Lakshman Kumar, Arun Kumar, H.L. Nagaraj, H.K. Praveenkumar, V. Vidyashankar, M.S. Rakesh, C.M.N. Purushotham, Nataraj, S.N. Shekar, B.S. Somashekar, M. Arjun, Prof. Jagannath, Shivananda Adiga, K. Banu Prashanth, G. Sridhar, B. Shivakumar, Anil Kumar, Mahantesh and others were present.