Fake kidnap calls to kin, sextortion form top two cyber crime cases
Times of India | 10 June 2024
Kolkata: Online fraudsters are taking recourse increasingly to fake kidnapping/arrest cases to dupe victims, this modus operandi having taken pole position in the total number of cybercrimes reported in the city. Sextortion comes a close second along with the older frauds like OTP fraud and QR code fraud. Together, around 135 cases have been reported this year across the three police commissionerates in Kolkata.
However, losses were negligible since not all who received these messages ended up paying up to the fraudsters, thanks to increased awareness.
Sources at various divisional cyber cells indicated that fake kidnapping cases always see the accused claiming that a close family member is in danger. This is done to extort ransom money.
A source from the cyber division reported that in March, there were at least 20 to 25 such complaints each week. Across all divisions of Kolkata Police, around 100 such complaints were filed. In May, this dropped to 22 for the entire month. This was after returns began to diminish as people became aware of the modus operandi.
Interestingly, during the Lok Sabha elections, the number of cyber fraud complaints in the city significantly decreased. Over the past two months, complaints have dropped by nearly 46% from around 250 complaints a month (January to March) to around 135 in each of the months of April and May.
Police sources claim that though the poll period contributed to the decrease in complaints — especially fake calls coming from north India — continuous awareness campaigns were a major reason for the decline.
An official from cyber cell mentioned that awareness campaigns about cyber fraud were conducted through social media pages and a newly opened WhatsApp channel by Lalbazar. The channel provides advice on not to share OTPs and not believing fake kidnapping stories, among other tips, and has received a good response. The cops also conduct awareness campaigns in city schools, including in the Bhangar division, using mobile vans. Special programs were organized for students, where cyber division inspectors provided dos-and-don’ts messages.
Lalbazar has announced that now that the polls are over, the police will resume mobile van campaigns in schools to spread the message of preventing fraud.