Ludhiana police, railway authorities join hands for cyber safety

A joint initiative of Ludhiana police’s cyber cell and railway authorities, the campaign will have special video and audio messages relayed at the station to spread awareness about the helpline number 1930

In the wake of rising incidents of online financial fraud and cybercrime at large, a month-long awareness campaign will commence at the railway station.

Ludhiana police, railway authorities have joined hands for cyber safety. (Shutterstock)

A joint initiative of police’s cyber cell and railway authorities, the campaign will have special video and audio messages relayed at the station to spread awareness about the helpline number 1930.

A meeting regarding the same was held between the cyber cell in-charge inspector Jatinder Singh, station director Divakar Varshney and government railway police’s deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Balram Rana on Tuesday. Officials said the campaign was aimed at common masses, who are not tech-savvy and most vulnerable to fall prey to fraudsters.

Railway officials said they will start relaying the audio messages immediately and videos will be displayed in the coming days as the process to install the monitors at the railway station is underway.

“The railway station witnesses a footfall of over 1 lakh every day, with most of them being migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. As people are not aware of the all-India helpline number for cybercrime, a number of cases go unreported,” officials said.

Jatinder Singh said guidelines to launch an awareness drive at the railway station have been issued by the Union ministry of home affairs, adding, “If the victims report the financial fraud at cybercrime helpline 1930, which is linked with nodal officers of all the major banks and wallets, within 24 hours the chances to recover the money increase by 50%.”

“After a crime is reported at the helpline the suspicious transactions can be traced and blocked immediately before the fraudsters move them to other accounts,” he said.

Singh also revealed that the district cyber cell had recovered around ₹1.50 crore in the last year.

Balram Rana, meanwhile, said fraudsters often befriend co-passengers during the course of their rail journeys, before encouraging victims to report incidents at the cybercrime portal immediately regardless of their location.