Delhi: Every day at least 700 people are falling prey to cyber frauds in the national capital alone and the menace has exploded in the last 18 months with most of the crimes resulting from ignorance, greed and fear of the victims, DCP of Cyber Crime Cell said on Friday.
The cyber helpline number 1930 receives, on average, 55,000 to 60,000 calls per month or 1,700 per day, of which 700 to 800 are new complaints, every day, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO, which is also called Cyber Crime unit) Hemant Tiwari said.
The numbers which are for Delhi alone suggest that the problem may be far more grim nationwide.
“These calls are related to mostly financial and other miscellaneous frauds. In fact, out of these 700 calls, 200-250 pertain to financial frauds. The cyber criminals usually feed on three things — ignorance, greed and fear of the victim. Traditional crimes like cheating and theft have now transcended into the cyber space,” the officer said.
Citing an example, Tiwari said police recently investigated a case where a man ended up losing Rs 22 crore just because he wanted to double his investment.
The other calls pertain to sextortion, digital arrest, matrimonial website frauds and cheating on the pretext of offering work from home opportunities.
Tiwari, who also has an MBBS degree and once worked as a junior resident in the MCD-run Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, said scamsters also send out emails to victims saying they have been found scanning child pornography websites and action will be taken against them by law enforcement agencies. In probing multiple such cases, the unit has been successful in making 180 arrests.
The Delhi Police has investigated financial frauds worth over Rs 500 crore from January this year till now, while the IFSO unit is investigating frauds worth Rs 200 crore.
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Tiwari explained that the unit specifically investigates cases where the stolen amount is Rs 50 lakh or above. Apart from the IFSO unit, each police district has one cyber unit.
“The cyber criminals enjoy anonymity and the chances of getting caught are lesser. For instance, a chain snatcher has a fear of getting caught and there is a fear among the common people also. But in case of cyber crime, the criminal is anonymous while the details of the crime are also not in public domain and remain confined to a few people.
“Cyber crimes do not have the kind of social impact other crimes have. There is not much awareness about them,” he said.
So, the question arises, what does a person do if they have been conned online?
“The Ministry of Home Affairs, in partnership with RBI, has created 1930 helpline. If you report a cyber crime as soon as it happens, the chances of getting your money back are high since the transaction can be blocked within 24 hours. If you are unable to reach 1930, you can reach out to 112 emergency helpline and they will transfer your call to 1930.
“If these two options are not reachable, immediately contact your nearest police station,” the officer said.
