Kolkata Police campaign brings fraud victims live on social media
Times of India | 11 March 2026
Kolkata: The Kolkata Police Cyber Cell launched a fresh initiative on Tuesday on their social media pages, where they are sharing videos of recent experiences of victims of cybercrimes.
Victims of various cyber frauds, especially those involved in cases where a new modus operandi was used by the fraudsters, are recording videos detailing how they were tricked. More importantly, the victims are also repeatedly asking others to report early to cops, preferably within the golden hour, so that recovery chances increase.
The first to share her experience was a former banker who was duped of Rs 24.4 lakh in the name of her own bank. The victim reported the incident immediately to her local police station and the divisional cyber cell, leading cops to recover Rs 21.4 lakh.
According to the 65-year-old retired female employee of a bank, she was resting after lunch on a Sunday on Feb 8 when she came across an advert for a senior citizen card from her bank. She clicked on it. Within five minutes, she received a call and was instructed to pick up a video call. The accused took down her account number and then asked her to use her FB and WhatsApp. She did as instructed.
"I was told repeatedly not to disconnect the video call for a long period. By the time I hung up, OTPs were generated. I lost Rs 23.4 lakh from six separate accounts. We went to local Netaji Nagar PS and SSD cyber cell immediately and were at the police station till 3 am. But now I received 95% of my lost amount," said the retired banker.
"Do not click on unfamiliar links. Do not install unknown apps on your phone. Report immediately if you fall victim to fraud. For assistance with cyber crimes, contact Kolkata Police's Digital Sentinel toll-free number: 1800-345-0066," the cops wrote.
In another incident, a civil engineer (72) spoke about how he received an email that apparently came from his mobile service provider, asking him to pay his outstanding bill of Rs 3,000 by clicking on a link. Busy at work, he clicked without thinking and was led to a payment gateway, where he submitted his credit card details and OTP. Almost immediately, Rs 1,20,000 was debited from his account. He submitted a complaint to Shakespeare Sarani PS and the South Division Cyber Cell, and the entire amount was recovered within four days by the South Division Cyber Cell.
Cops will not be taking direct questions, given they expect hundreds to join the online programme from the Kolkata Police Facebook page, but those who listen to the discussion are encouraged to send their questions, which cops will subsequently answer.
With Kolkata Police registering 1,000 cyber fraud cases monthly on average, the city witnessed fraud worth Rs 208 crore, with Rs 37 crore of it recovered. The cyber cell at Lalbazar opened a new helpline number last month, which is available 24X7 to citizens.