E-Paper
Cyber Police Kashmir saves 13 lakhs lost in cyber frauds, scams
Police said amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public is dependent on cyber platforms, the vulnerability of getting trapped into cyber scams/frauds gets increased.
In a swift action, Cyber Police Kashmir saved 13 lakhs which was lost in cyber frauds and scams, officials said, adding that the police force received complaints regarding various online frauds, scams and other cyber crimes on a routine basis.
“During the past one month, Cyber Police Station Kashmir Zone, Srinagar, received multiple complaints wherein complainants had been duped by fraudsters in OTP and UPI frauds. In one incident, a complainant was duped of ₹2 lakh through UPI scam when all he wanted was a refund for the cancellation of his ticket. He was struggling to find a customer care number and obtained a number from Google search results. He received a call and was asked to download a mobile application called Team Viewer Quick Support on his cell phone. After following the steps told by the fraudsters, he was duped of ₹2 lakh from his bank account. The victim immediately reported the fraud,” the police spokesman said in a statement.
He said that Cyber Police Kashmir was able to recover the money from the fraudsters.
“In OTP frauds, multiple complaints were received regarding vishing (OTP) scams wherein the complainants get phone calls from fraudsters claiming to be bank officers. These fraudsters convince the complainants and inform them that their debit cards have been blocked and are due for renewal. In order to renew the debit cards, the complainants are asked to share the card details along with six digits OTP received on their cell phones. The gullible victims end up sharing their card details along with OTP and fall prey to such scams. An amount of ₹11 lakh was duped similarly,” the police said.
Police said amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public is dependent on cyber platforms, the vulnerability of getting trapped into cyber scams/frauds gets increased.
“Public is advised to refrain from downloading any remote access apps like Team viewer quick support, Anydesk App etc. or dialling fake helpline or customer care numbers found on Google search engine. These legitimate apps are remote software tools which provide a third party with complete hold of the users’ cell phones and computer. People are advised to be aware of these latest scams and not to fell prey to these fraudsters. If you or your family member get infected from Corona, you may receive a fraud call from cyber criminals that Covid-19 help will be provided, moreover, fraudsters may also ask for an advance payment and promise to provide an oxygen cylinder via home delivery, vaccines etc,” the police statement said.
