Kolkata police launches cyber awareness campaign during festive season
Times of India | 1 November 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Police is keen to spread cyber awareness and hygiene this festive season. This follows soon after an appeal from the Commissioner of Police, Manoj Kumar Verma, seeking help from Kali Puja and Diwali get-together organisers to assist in spreading cyber awareness.
As part of the initiative, police teams from the detective department and southwest police division have begun visiting some of the biggest condos in south Kolkata, along with adjoining Kali Puja pandals, to spread awareness about the new methods being adopted by cyber criminals to commit cybercrimes. A separate visual awareness campaign has been initiated at the police stations too.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the SWD division (Behala division) also widely publicised two separate one-minute videos. While one contained the Do's and Don'ts regarding cybercrime, the other discussed the type of crackers permitted to be burst, what it means to buy a "green cracker," and the cracker timings set for Diwali and Chhath.
According to DC (SWD) Rahul De, they have concentrated on some present important con jobs that can be stopped if citizens remain aware. The first, said cops, is that no one should rely on customer care numbers from any search engine. They should instead visit the official websites or contact banks directly.
"Two, do not click on links received through SMS from unknown numbers or emails. Three, do not receive VoIP calls or video calls from unknown numbers and social media like WhatsApp. Four, avoid financial transactions on websites. Five, always opt for payment on delivery from any new or unverified website. Six, be aware of calls related to SIM card or ATM blocks or KYC updates. Almost in all cases, these are fakes. Seven, be very alert on the use of cryptocurrency and bitcoins. The number of frauds in these counts has witnessed a surge in the past few months. Eight, never share your personal OTP with anyone, and nine, do not fall for advertisements that are too good to be true - offers that do not match those available in the market," explained an officer.
"Once these crimes are committed, the losses can vary from very meagre amounts to large ones. Tracing the money back to other states - mainly Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, or Haryana - is not an easy affair, and sending teams over is not always easy. The only way to cut down such crimes is to increase awareness," said an officer at Lalbazar.
"Considering the period we are in, which has witnessed a significant rise in fraudulent activities and online scams, it's a welcome initiative by Kolkata Police. We will urge them to hold the camp on a Saturday or Sunday so that maximum people can participate in the same," said Yogesh Shah, a senior resident of Diamond City (West).
"My teenage granddaughter recently lost Rs. 8000, which were her own savings, to an online scam. Many elderly residents known to me have also been victims of such internet frauds since Covid. We will appreciate the cops for holding such outreach campaigns in our complex, and we will ensure there is maximum participation in the programme," said Swastik Majumdar, a resident of another condo in Joka. MSID.